Category: Hermitage Greenfield Prize

Visual Artist Charisse Pearlina Weston Honored at Hermitage Greenfield Prize Celebration

The annual Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner on Sunday, April 12th honored visual artist Charisse Pearlina Weston. This was the central event of a three-day celebration, hosted by the Hermitage Artist Retreat (Andy Sandberg, Artistic Director and CEO) in partnership with the Greenfield Foundation. The gala evening was presented at Michael’s on East and featured inspiring performances from Tony Award-nominated Broadway star Will Swenson (Hair, A Beautiful Noise), accompanied by pianist Joseph Holt; original songs performed by Hermitage Fellow and 2024 Hermitage Greenfield Prize-finalist Britton Smith, accompanied by AJ Jagannath; and an unexpected performance of hit song “Golden,” written by Academy Award-winning Hermitage Fellow Mark Sonnenblick and sung by Maicy Powell. The annual gala raised $400,000 in support of the Hermitage’s mission, in addition to the Greenfield Foundation’s annual gift of $175,000. Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg served as master of ceremonies, with Co-Chairs Ellen & Richard Sandor, who announced an additional commitment of $250,000 to underwrite the “Sandor Residency at the Hermitage.” 

As this year’s HGP recipient, Weston receives a $35,000 commission, along with an extended residency at the Hermitage Artist Retreat. Sandberg announced at the event that Weston will also receive a world premiere exhibition in 2028 at The Ringling Museum of Art, presented in collaboration with the Hermitage.

The Hermitage Greenfield Prize (HGP) Dinner kicked off with a year-in-review video showcasing highlighting this year of transformational growth for the Hermitage. The inspirational video was followed by a powerhouse performance from Maicy Powell singing “Golden” from the global mega-hit KPop Demon Hunters, first heard by Sarasota audiences last summer on the Hermitage Beach; “Golden” was written by Hermitage alumnus Mark Sonnenblick, who recently won an Academy Award for this song. Andy Sandberg took the stage as master of ceremonies and spoke about the legacy and impact of the Hermitage Greenfield Prize, thanking Hermitage supporters, friends, and partners. This was followed by a brief video encapsulating the level of talent and the impact that the Hermitage Greenfield Prize has on the greater artistic landscape as well as the spotlight this prestigious award shines on the region. Sandbergthen introduced the evening’s headliner, Tony Award-nominated Broadway star Will Swenson. Swenson started the night with a throwback song from the musical Adrift in Macao. Swenson spoke of meeting Andy Sandberg twenty years ago when they worked together on that show; Sandberg worked with Swenson again as a producer of Hair on Broadway, in which Will co-starred opposite Hermitage Fellow Gavin Creel, earning them both Tony Award nominations. Swenson then picked up a guitar to perform a moving rendition of the song “Gold” from the movie and musical Once. Accompanying the evening on piano was Joseph Holt. Swenson expressed his gratitude for all the Hermitage supporters who recognize the importance of championing new talent and new work.

After a dinner provided by Michael’s on East, the festivities continued with a congratulatory video from past Hermitage Greenfield Prize winners Rucyl Mills (2025), Deepa Purohit (2024), and Sandy Rodriguez (2023). This was followed by a special appearance from Tony Award-winning singer, musician, and Hermitage alumnus Britton Smith, who was accompanied by “Britton and the Sting” bandmate and returning Hermitage Fellow Andrew “AJ” Jagannath. Smith, a past Hermitage Greenfield Prize finalist,charmed the audience with stories from his recent Hermitage residency and unforgettable performances of his original songs “Come to Me” and ‘Bucket of Love.”

Following Smith’s performance, Sandberg introduced curator, co-founder of ARTNOIR, and 2026 HGP juror Larry Ossei-Mensah, who described Charisse’s singular artistic style as having “rigor, curiosity, and imagination,” adding that “the time and space given through this commission is a catalytic moment for her career.” Ossei-Mensah went on to share how excited he is for our community to get to know Charisse as an artist, writer, and creator.  Following a brief video presentation of her work, Sandberg and Ossei-Mensah presented Charisse Pearlina Weston with this year’s Hermitage Greenfield Prize. “I didn’t quite realize what I was walking into this weekend, but I can honestly say that I have never felt so welcomed,” said Weston. Thank you to the Greenfield Foundation, Andy and the Hermitage team, this wonderful community, and all of you. It is an amazing honor to be here.” 

To close out this memorable night after an enthusiastic paddle raise, Will Swenson returned to the stage, first singing “Sara” from the musical Murder Ballad, written by Hermitage alumna Julia Jordan; Swenson debuted the role of Tom in its Off-Broadway premiere. Swenson closed out the night with a rousing rendition of Neil Diamond’s crowd-favorite “Sweet Caroline,” having originated the role of the iconic rock legend in the Broadway musical A Beautiful Noise. Needless to say, all guests were enthusiastically singing along!

“This was a truly remarkable evening and a joyful celebration of visual art and this incredible prize,” said Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg. “It was an honor to celebrate Charisse Pearlina Weston, and we can’t wait to introduce her original commission to our Gulf Coast community. It was thrilling to hear unforgettable live performances from Will Swenson and original songs by Britton Smith, along with inspiring performances from AJ Jagannath, Maicy Powell, Joe Holt, and more. We are so grateful to the Greenfield Foundation, the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, and all our sponsors and donors for their belief in our mission and the support of new work.”

The annual Prize Dinner anchored a series of events celebrating the impact and legacy of the Hermitage Greenfield Prize. The programming kicked off on Saturday, April 11th at The Ringling’s Historic Asolo Theater, where Hermitage audiences had a chance to meet Charisse Pearlina Weston. This event included an in-depth conversation with this year’s 2026 HGP Winner, alongside 2026 HGP juror Larry Ossei-Mensah, offering an introduction to Weston’s work and career, as well as insight into her plans for this new commission and a sampling of her past work.

On Monday, April 13th the world premiere commission presentation from 2024 HGP recipient Deepa Purohit, Mxx: The Dignity Project, was presented at the Asolo Rep’s Koski Center. The moving and inspiring workshop presentation featured an extraordinary cast of four South Asian women, including Hermitage Fellow Nandita Shenoy, Sara Haider, Indika Senanayake, and Rita Wolf.

The Hermitage Greenfield Prize is presented in partnership with the Philadelphia-based Greenfield Foundation, who launched this initiative with the Hermitage in 2009. The Community Foundation of Sarasota County once again served as the lead community sponsor for this year’s festivities.

Weston was selected by a distinguished jury that included Ian Alteveer, Beal Family Chair of Contemporary Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Alison Gass, Founding Executive Director of the Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco; and Larry Ossei-Mensah, independent curator and co-founder of ARTNOIR, a nonprofit supporting artists, curators, cultural workers, and emerging patrons. For her Hermitage Greenfield Prize commission, Charisse Pearlina Weston will create a new body of work examining specters of desire, control, and recognition through the phenomenon of so-called “zombie laws” – legal statutes that persist beyond their supposed obsolescence. Rather than treating these laws as dormant remnants, Weston approaches them as active structures that continue to organize bodies and social life through desire, fear, punishment, and moral authority. The project draws on Zora Neale Hurston’s ethnographic writing on zombies in Haiti, where the zombie emerges not as spectacle, but as a social figure shaped by unmet desires for recognition, care, and belonging. This commission deepens Weston’s ongoing investigation into the dialectics of Black interior life and resistance, extending her exploration of how structures of power and surveillance produce constrictive intimacies, and how tactics of refusal enable Black interior life to re-inscribe intimacy despite those constraints.

Past winners of this distinguished honor include Rucyl Mills, composer/sound artist (2025); Deepa Purohit, playwright (2024); Rennie Harris, choreographer (2023), Sandy Rodriguez, visual artist (2023), Angélica Negrón, composer (2022); Aleshea Harris, playwright (2021); Helga Davis, composer (2019); Martyna Majok, playwright (2018); David Burnett, photojournalist (2017); Coco Fusco, visual artist (2016); Bobby Previte, composer (2015); Nilo Cruz, playwright (2014); Trenton Doyle Hancock, visual artist (2013); Vijay Iyer, composer (2012); John Guare, playwright (2011); Sanford Biggers, visual artist (2010); Craig Lucas, playwright (2009); and Eve Beglarian, composer (2009).

Broadway Star Will Swenson to Perform at 2026 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner 

The Hermitage Artist Retreat (Andy Sandberg, Artistic Director and CEO) today announced that Tony Award-nominated Broadway star and Obie Award winner Will Swenson (Hair, A Beautiful Noise, Les Misérables) will headline the 2026 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner on Sunday, April 12th. He will be joined by returning Hermitage Fellow Britton Smith, who has appeared in two recent Hermitage programs and will share some of his original music.

Will Swenson is celebrated as one of Broadway’s most versatile actors. He is a Tony Award nominee and an Obie Award winner who recently starred as Neil Diamond in the Broadway musical A Beautiful Noise. He previously co-starred with Hermitage Fellow Gavin Creel in the hit Broadway revival of Hair. Swenson’s acclaimed performance as Berger earned him Tony Award and Drama Desk Award nominations. (Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg won a Tony Award for his role as a producer of this acclaimed revival.) Swenson’s portrayal of Charles Guiteau in the Off-Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins earned him nominations for Outer Critics Circle, Lucille Lortel, and Drama League Awards. He won an Obie Award for his role in Jerry Springer: The Opera. Swenson’s other Broadway and Off-Broadway credits include Priscilla: Queen of the Desert, Les Misérables, Waitress, Murder Ballad (written by Hermitage Fellow Julia Jordan), Rock of Ages, Pericles, Nantucket Sleighride, Little Miss Sunshine, Adrift in Macao, and many more. Swenson’s film and television credits include The Greatest Showman, The Kitchen, This is Where I Leave You, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Law & Order (SVU & CI), The Good Wife, Hit and Run, The Bite, First Kill, and Elsbeth.

Returning Hermitage Fellow Britton Smith will also be performing at the popular spring gala, sharing some of his original music developed at the Hermitage. He is a 2024 Hermitage Greenfield Prize finalist, a Broadway veteran, and a Tony Award winner for his work with the Broadway Advocacy Coalition. Smith, the leader of the self-described “funk liberation band” Britton and the Sting, has been called a “force to be reckoned with” and a “tornado of talent and energy” by Broadway World. Hermitage audiences will remember Britton’s memorable performances in the “Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens” series, including his most recent program: “The Rising Stars of Jazz and Soul.”

“I’ve known Will Swenson for twenty years, and I’m so excited that he’ll be sharing his incredible talents with our Hermitage audiences at this year’s event,” says Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg. “Will and Britton are both extraordinary performers, and guests at this year’s Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner are in for a real treat – this is going to be a night to remember!”

Past performers at the Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner have included Tony and Grammy Award winner Rachel Bay Jones (Dear Evan Hansen, Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage), Tony and Emmy Award nominee Eden Espinosa (Wicked, Lempicka, Rent), Tony Award nominee Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer (Beetlejuice, Spamalot), and Tony Award-winning Hermitage Fellow Gavin Creel (Hello Dolly, Hair, Walk on Through). 

This year’s event Co-Chairs are Ellen and Richard Sandor. The Hermitage Greenfield Prize is presented by the Hermitage Artist Retreat in partnership with the Philadelphia-based Greenfield Foundation, with the Community Foundation of Sarasota County serving as the lead community sponsor. Media sponsors include The Herald Tribune and SRQ Magazine. A full list of this year’s sponsors, benefactors, and partners can be found at HermitageArtistRetreat.org/HGPDinner2026.

Tables and sponsorships for the 2026 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner may be purchased by contacting the Hermitage Development Office at (941) 475-2098, Ext. 2. Sponsorship levels for this popular Hermitage benefit range from $2,000 to $10,000. Please note: this event has limited capacity remaining. 

Full Event Schedule for the 2026 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Celebration

The Hermitage Artist Retreat (Andy Sandberg, Artistic Director and CEO), in collaboration with the Greenfield Foundation, presents the 18th year of the Hermitage Greenfield Prize Celebration. The events span from Saturday, April 11th through Monday, April 13th, including the annual Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner in Sarasota on Sunday, April 12th. The celebration culminates on Monday, April 13th with the first public presentation of 2024 Hermitage Greenfield Prize winner Deepa Purohit’s original play Mxx: The Dignity Project, a new Hermitage commission presented in partnership with Asolo Repertory Theatre.  

2026 Hermitage Greenfield Prize winner Charisse Pearlina Weston will offer her first public Hermitage program in partnership with The Ringling at the Museum’s Historic Asolo Theater in Sarasota on Saturday, April 11th at 5pm. Weston, a conceptual artist and writer, contends with the dynamic interplay of violence and intimacy through repetition, enfoldment, and concealment in her work. Drawn to its fragility and danger, glass has been her primary medium for much of her career. Her recent solo exhibit, “mis/mé- (squeeze)” was a New York Times Critic’s Pick. Weston will spend an hour in conversation with 2026 Hermitage Greenfield Prize juror Larry Ossei-Mensah, independent curator and founder of ARTNOIR. Join the Hermitage for this free community event: “Repetition, Enfoldment, Concealment,” A Conversation on Art and Practice. Together, Weston and Ossei-Mensah will discuss the intricacies of Weston’s practice, offer their perspectives on the arts as a reflection of social impact, and discuss how Charisse’s Hermitage Greenfield Prize commission extends that work into new pathways.

The following night, Charisse Pearlina Weston will be celebrated at the 18th annual Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner, a benefit for the Hermitage Artist Retreat, starting at 6pm on Sunday, April 12that Michael’s On East (Sarasota, Florida). The annual fundraiser will feature live musical performances from leading talents of Broadway and beyond. (Guest performers will be announced at a later date.) Past guest performers at this popular event have included Tony Award nominee Eden Espinosa, Tony and Grammy Award winner Rachel Bay Jones, Tony Award nominee Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, and Tony Award winner Gavin Creel. This elegant annual dinner heralds the jury-selected recipient of this prestigious prize, awarded this season in the discipline of visual art. The Hermitage Greenfield Prize (HGP) is a distinguished national commission awarded by the Hermitage Artist Retreat in partnership with the Philadelphia-based Greenfield Foundation; the $35,000 award rotates annually among visual art, theater, and music. The 2026 winner’s newly commissioned work will have its world premiere exhibition in Sarasota in the spring of 2028. The Hermitage Greenfield Prize Celebration is presented in partnership with the Greenfield Foundation, with the Community Foundation of Sarasota County serving as Lead Community Sponsor. Media sponsors include The Herald Tribune, and SRQ Magazine. The co-chairs for this year’s gala dinner are Ellen & Richard Sandor. A full list of this year’s sponsors can be found at HermitageArtistRetreat.org/HGPDinner2026.

Sponsorship levels for this Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner, the organization’s spring benefit, range from $2,000 to $10,000. Tables and sponsorships may be purchased by contacting the Hermitage Development Office at (941) 475-2098, Ext. 2, or by emailing Development@HermitageArtistRetreat.org. 

The 2026 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Celebration will culminate on Monday, April 13th at 7pm with the first public presentation of the newly commissioned play by 2024 HGP winner Deepa Purohit, Mxx: The Dignity Project. This presentation will be presented in partnership with Asolo Repertory Theatre at the Asolo’s Koski Center. An immersive play, installation, discussion circle, and “happening,” Mxx: The Dignity Project centers the collected experiences of inter-generational women from the South Asian diaspora in America who engage or disrupt the diasporic rituals and expectations placed on their bodies as they navigate the “machinery” of the medical/elder care/end-of-life system. How do women live, age, and die with dignity in a culture where the entire medical system is built on this key tenet: to prolong life? This workshop presentation features a cast of four South Asian women, including Hermitage Fellow Nandita Shenoy, Sara Haider, Indika Senanayake, and Rita Wolf.  

Past recipients of the Hermitage Greenfield Prize include Rucyl Mills, composer and sound artist (2025); Deepa Purohit, playwright (2024); Sandy Rodriguez, visual artist (2023); Rennie Harris, dancer/choreographer (2023); Angélica Negrón, composer (2022); Aleshea Harris, playwright (2021); Helga Davis, composer / performer (2019); Martyna Majok, playwright (2018); David Burnett, photojournalist (2017); Coco Fusco, interdisciplinary artist (2016); Bobby Previte, composer / drummer (2015); Nilo Cruz, playwright (2014); Trenton Doyle Hancock, visual artist (2013); Vijay Iyer, composer/pianist (2012); John Guare, playwright (2011); Sanford Biggers, visual artist (2010); Craig Lucas, playwright (2009); and Eve Beglarian, composer (2009).

“Repetition, Enfoldment, Concealment” – A Conversation on Art and Practice with 2026 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Winner Charisse Pearlina Weston, Saturday, April 11, 2026 @ 5pm: Winner of the 2026 Hermitage Greenfield Prize in Visual Art, Charisse Pearlina Weston is a conceptual artist and writer whose work contends with the dynamic interplay of violence and intimacy through repetition, enfoldment, and concealment. Drawn to its fragility and danger, Weston has worked with glass as her primary material for much of her career. Her recent solo exhibit, “mis/mé- (squeeze)” was a New York Times Critic’s Pick, the review’s headline exclaiming “Surveillance Never Looked So Good” and noting that “in Weston’s best work, the folds and bends in her industrial ingredients seem to be concealing or safeguarding information, holding things back as they beguile.” Weston will spend this hour in conversation with 2026 Hermitage Greenfield Prize juror Larry Ossei-Mensah, independent curator and founder of ARTNOIR. Together, they will discuss the intricacies of Weston’s practice, offer their perspectives on the arts as a reflection of social impact, and discuss how her Hermitage Greenfield Prize commission extends that work into new pathways. Presented in partnership with the Greenfield Foundation, the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, and The Ringling. Registration is required at HermitageArtistRetreat.org ($5/person registration fee). The Ringling’s Historic Asolo Theater, 5401 Bay Shore Rd., Sarasota, FL 34243.

    GALA DINNER! – 2026 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner, Sunday, April 12, 6pm: The 2025 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner recognizes this year’s recipient, visual artist Charisse Pearlina Weston. This 18th year of the Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner will feature live performances from Hermitage alumni. Presented in partnership with the Greenfield Foundation. Lead Community Sponsor: the Community Foundation of Sarasota County. Michael’s On East (1212 South East Ave., Sarasota, FL 34239). For information on tables and sponsorships ($2,000 to $10,000), visit HermitageArtistRetreat.org, or call (941) 475-2098, Ext. 2.

    “Mxx: The Dignity Project,” a World Premiere Play Commission from 2024 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Winner Deepa Purohit, Monday, April 13 @ 7pm: The culminating work of her 2024 Hermitage Greenfield Prize commission, Deepa Purohit shares the first public presentation of her new play, Mxx: The Dignity Project. An immersive play, installation, discussion circle, and “happening,” Mxx centers the collected experiences of inter-generational women from the South Asian diaspora in America who engage or disrupt the diasporic rituals and expectations placed on their bodies as they navigate the “machinery” of the medical/elder care/end-of-life system. How do women live, age, and die with dignity in a culture where the entire medical system is built on this key tenet: to prolong life? This presentation features a cast of four South Asian women: Hermitage Fellow Nandita Shenoy, and actors Sara Haider, Indika Senanayake, and Rita Wolf. Presented in partnership with the Greenfield Foundation, the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, and Asolo Repertory Theatre. Registration is required at HermitageArtistRetreat.org ($5/person registration fee). Asolo Repertory Theatre’s Koski Center Coville Rehearsal Hall, 1009 Tallevast Rd., Sarasota, FL 34243.

    Visual Artist Charisse Pearlina Weston Receives 2026 Hermitage Greenfield Prize

    The Hermitage Artist Retreat (Andy Sandberg, Artistic Director and CEO), in collaboration with the Philadelphia-based Greenfield Foundation, has announced visual artist Charisse Pearlina Weston as the winner of the 2026 Hermitage Greenfield Prize (HGP). Her recent exhibits include group and solo presentations at the Whitney Museum of American Art, MOMA PS1, SITE Santa Fe and the Queens Museum, among other venues. Weston was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship from the Guggenheim Foundation in 2025.

    The Hermitage Greenfield Prize is awarded annually, rotating between the fields of visual art, music, and theater. Weston will receive a six-week Hermitage Fellowship and a $35,000 commission to create a new work or collection of art, which will have its premiere exhibition in Sarasota in 2028.

    Weston was selected by a distinguished jury that included Ian Alteveer, Beal Family Chair of Contemporary Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Alison Gass, Founding Executive Director of the Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco; and Larry Ossei-Mensah, independent curator and co-founder of ARTNOIR, a nonprofit supporting artists, curators, cultural workers, and emerging patrons. Past winners of this distinguished honor in the discipline of visual art include Sandy Rodriguez (2023), David Burnett(2017), Coco Fusco (2016), Trenton Doyle Hancock (2013), and Sanford Biggers (2010), who is now a member of the Hermitage Curatorial Council.  

    “Amidst a remarkable field of four brilliant finalists, this insightful jury faced the difficult task of selecting a single recipient. Charisse Pearlina Weston emerged as a thoughtful and original artist who impressed the jury with her inspired and ambitious proposal,” says Hermitage Artistic Director Andy Sandberg. “Her innovative work with glass offers a unique lens into life and culture. Charisse’s multifaceted and thoughtful approach to her work embodies the mission of the Hermitage Greenfield Prize: to bring into the world works of art that have a significant impact on the broad as well as the artistic culture of our society. We thank our distinguished jurors for their passion and dedication, and we congratulate all four exceptional finalists, whom we look forward to welcoming at the Hermitage. We’re excited to host Charisse in Florida for the Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner in April, and subsequently as a Hermitage Fellow in anticipation of the premiere of her new exhibition in Sarasota in 2028.”

    Charisse Pearlina Weston, born in Houston and now based in Harlem, is a conceptual artist whose work contends with the dynamic interplay of violence and intimacy through repetition, enfoldment, and concealment. She works across sculpture, writing, installation, and photography. Weston often integrates glass into her work due to its inherent nature. Whether it be through photographs, fragments incorporated into a canvas, or an element within a sculpture, the duality of the material speaks to Weston’s understanding of Black resistance. Her recent exhibitions include group and solo presentations at the Whitney Museum of American Art, MOMA PS1, SITE Santa Fe, and the Queens Museum, among other venues. Recent fellowships and residencies include the Studio Museum, Harlem Artist in Residency, Jerome Hill Fellowship, Hodder Fellowship at the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University, a 2025 Guggenheim Fellowship from the Guggenheim Foundation, and a 2025 Stepping Stone awardee from the Trellis Foundation. Weston received a BA from the University of North Texas, a MSc in Modern Art from the University of Edinburgh’s College of Art, and an MFA in Studio Art with Critical Theory emphasis from the University of California-Irvine.

    Three finalists for the 2026 Hermitage Greenfield Prize include Melissa Joseph, whose work considers themes of memory, family history, and the politics of how we occupy space and has been exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum, Delaware Contemporary, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, MOCA Arlington, ICA San Francisco, and List Gallery at Swarthmore College; Lily Kwong, a multidisciplinary artist whose work explores plant-life as both an artistic medium and a platform for community building and collective care, with recent projects at Madison Square Park (New York), Night Gallery (Los Angeles), and ICA (San Francisco); and Patrick Martinez, a Los Angeles-based artist whose work examines language, place, memory, and the social histories embedded within the American landscape, with recent exhibitions at the Whitney Museum, The Broad, the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, the Studio Museum in Harlem, El Museo del Barrio, and the Tucson Museum of Art. All three will receive a Hermitage residency, in addition to a finalist prize of $1,000.

    “I am thrilled that the Hermitage Greenfield Prize will go to Charisse Pearlina Weston, an artist of great talent and expansive vision, who I know will benefit immensely from the residency’s call for independent thinking and exploration,” added fellow HGP juror Ian Alteveer. “Weston’s practice is fascinating in its wide-ranging references — to literature, to architecture, to social justice — and I cannot wait to see what she accomplishes next.”

    “I am so proud that we are awarding this prize to Charisse Pearlina Weston, said 2026 HGP juror Alison Gass. “Charisse’s proposal was astonishing in its thoughtful depth of nuance, building on her past practice, her depth of rigorous research, and her ability to weave storytelling into sculptural form. She is poised at such an exciting moment for an opportunity like this, and I cannot wait to see what is next for her, both with the Hermitage Greenfield Prize and beyond.”

    “Charisse Pearlina Weston’s work confronts the complexities of Black life with material rigor and poetic force, moving with a quiet power that makes her one of the most compelling artists of her generation,” said fellow HGP juror Larry Ossei-Mensah, founder of ARTNOIR and independent curator. “The Hermitage Greenfield Prize offers her the rare gift of time, space, and support to expand that visionary practice in ways that will ripple far beyond the studio.”  

    “I’m honored to receive the 2026 Hermitage Greenfield Prize,” said Weston upon learning of her recognition as this year’s HGP winner. “Through multimedia installations, my commission will address the ongoing entanglement of past and present legal regimes and engage broad audiences in reflecting on how the past continues to shape contemporary life. This Prize provides a rare combination of time, focus, and support that will allow me to fully realize this work and enrich my creative practice.”

    For her Hermitage Greenfield Prize commission, Charisse Pearlina Weston will create a new body of work examining specters of desire, control, and recognition through the phenomenon of so-called “zombie laws”—legal statutes that persist beyond their supposed obsolescence. Rather than treating these laws as dormant remnants, Weston approaches them as active structures that continue to organize bodies and social life through desire, fear, punishment, and moral authority. The project draws on Zora Neale Hurston’s ethnographic writing on zombies in Haiti, where the zombie emerges not as spectacle, but as a social figure shaped by unmet desires for recognition, care, and belonging. This commission deepens Weston’s ongoing investigation into the dialectics of Black interior life and resistance, extending her exploration of how structures of power and surveillance produce constrictive intimacies, and how tactics of refusal enable Black interior life to re-inscribe intimacy despite those constraints.

    Charisse Pearlina Weston will be celebrated at the Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner on Sunday, April 12th at 6pm at Michael’s On East in Sarasota, Florida. This year’s event Co-Chairs are Ellen & Richard Sandor. Capacity will be limited, so early reservations are strongly recommended. Tables and sponsorships are now available; additional information can be found at HermitageArtistRetreat.org/HGPDinner2026.

    In addition to the Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner on April 12th, the Hermitage Greenfield Prize Celebration will include programs April 10-13 with current and past HGP winners, including the HGP commission debut from playwright and 2024 recipient Deepa Purohit, presented in collaboration with Asolo Repertory Theatre. Additional details around these HGP programs will be announced at a later date. The Hermitage Greenfield Prize Celebration is presented in partnership with the Greenfield Foundation, with the Community Foundation of Sarasota County serving as the Lead Community Sponsor.

    Hermitage Announces New January Programs

    The Hermitage Artist Retreat today announced new programs to kick off the beginning of 2026. Newly announced events include Hermitage Fellow Roger Q. Mason’s exploration of what it means to live in a democracy today at Venice Theatre on Monday, January 12th; a playwright’s look into the modern healthcare system in a panel discussion with 2024 Hermitage Greenfield Prize winner Deepa Purohit as she investigates supporting material for her Hermitage-commissioned play at the Asolo Rep’s Koski Center on Wednesday, January 14th, featuring guest panelists from the Sarasota Memorial Healthcare System; and returning Hermitage Fellow and Tony Award-winning performer Britton Smith splitting the bill with celebrated jazz musician and composer Adam O’Farrill at Selby Gardens on January 29th.

    On Monday, January 12th at 5:30pm, award-winning writer, performer, and educator Roger Q. Mason will discuss their work, share excerpts from their new play, and delve deeper into the creative process of writing and playwriting with “What Freedom Means to Me.” Mason is known for their “kaleidoscopic historical fantasias” (American Theatre), juxtaposing real people and events with fantastical elements to examine modern life and cultural divides. Mason’s play and subsequent film adaptation Lavender Men received critical acclaim. As part of their Hermitage residency, Mason is working on a sequel to this celebrated work exploring what it means to live in a democracy today and diving into questions of privilege, self-love, and the cost of liberation. The hour-long event will close with a short writing exercise, inviting participants to explore and share their own relationship to freedom.

    2024 Hermitage Greenfield Prize winner Deepa Purohit returns to Sarasota on Wednesday, January 14th at 3pm for a panel discussion based on her investigation into how women live, age, and die with dignity in a culture where the medical system is built on a key tenet: to preserve life. This is the question central to Purohit’s Hermitage-commissioned play, Mxx: The Dignity Project. In this upcoming program, “On Living and Dying with Dignity,” Purohit will converse with Dr. Robin Devan, who leads Sarasota Memorial Healthcare System’s Palliative Care Services, and TJ Tremaine, Bioethics Program Coordinator with Sarasota Memorial Healthcare System. Moderated by Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg and presented in collaboration with Asolo Repertory Theatre, this conversation aims to explore the many facets of medical intervention during a woman’s life, and how ethics and dignity come into play when making decisions about care. This cross-disciplinary panel will offer a thoughtful discussion ahead of the highly anticipated premiere of Purohit’s Hermitage-commissioned play this April. This event will take place at the Asolo Repertory Theatre’s Koski Center.

    On Thursday, January 29th at 5:30pm, acclaimed jazz musician and composer Adam O’Farrill and Tony Award-winning performer Britton Smith will share the stage for the next installment of the Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens series: “The Rising Stars of Jazz and Soul.” Descended from Latin jazz royalty, Hermitage Fellow Adam O’Farrill is a composer, bandleader, and trumpeter who has been hailed by The New York Times as “a blazing young trumpet player” and “perhaps the music’s next major improviser.” Known for his uniquely personal style, O’Farrill has been widely recognized in the jazz community as a rising star of the genre. Returning Hermitage Fellow Britton Smith, a Tony Award-winning Broadway performer and leader of the self-described “funk liberation band” Britton and the Sting, has been called a “force to be reckoned with” and a “tornado of talent and energy” by Broadway World. For one night only, these two dynamic musical artists will share the Hermitage stage at Selby Gardens downtown for an unforgettable night of stripped-down music featuring two creative forces breaking boundaries in the worlds of jazz and soul.  Britton Smith’s Hermitage Residency generously sponsored by Charlie Huisking.

    These Hermitage programs are free and open to the public (with a $5/person registration fee), offering Gulf Coast audiences a rare chance to engage and interact with some of the world’s leading talent. Running time for most Hermitage programs is 60-70 minutes with no intermission. Due to capacity limitations, registration is required at HermitageArtistRetreat.org.

    As a special addition in January, Hermitage artist and Tony Award nominee Eden Espinosa (Lempicka, Wicked, Rent), returns to Sarasota for “Music Mondays” to offer the audience a view into the world of Broadway. Espinosa performed recently in Sarasota at the 2025 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner. In these “Music Mondays” events, she will share her talents as a musical performer, while also engaging in dialogue about the craft and industry of musical theater alongside Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg, with Joseph Holt on piano. There will be two opportunities to hear from this celebrated Broadway star: Monday, January 26th at 10:30am at the Church of the Palms in Sarasota, and again at 3pm at the Venice Presbyterian Church. This event is presented in partnership with the Sarasota Institute of Lifetime Learning (SILL).

    Please note the two SILL programs are not part of the Hermitage’s traditional free programming. These two “Music Mondays” presentations are hosted by the Sarasota Institute of Lifetime Learning (SILL) as a part of the “Music Mondays” series. $15 single tickets are available at the door for these special events with Eden Espinosa. 

    Hermitage Artist Retreat Announces Dates for 2025-2026 Benefit Events

    The Hermitage Artist Retreat (Sarasota County, Florida) announced today that the annual Hermitage Artful Lobster benefit will be held on Saturday, November 8th, 2025, from 11:30am to 2pm on Manasota Key. Now in its 17th year, this signature outdoor event raises valuable funds for the Hermitage’s renowned artist residency program. The Artful Lobster is the only Hermitage benefit to take place on the grounds of the historic Gulf front campus – outdoors beneath a large tent – located at 6660 Manasota Key Road in Englewood. Michael’s On East offers a delicious lobster feast, with performances from award-winning Hermitage Fellows. Past artists who have shared their talents at this popular event include internationally renowned flutist Claire Chase, Tony Award nominee Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, acclaimed string quartet ETHEL, celebrated musical theater composer Adam Gwon, Grammy Award-nominated music director and composer Rona Siddiqui, acclaimed violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain, and more.

    The 18th annual Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner will be held on Sunday, April 12th, 2026, starting at 6pm at Michael’s On East in downtown Sarasota. This elegant annual dinner heralds the jury-selected recipient of this prestigious prize, which will be awarded next season in the discipline of visual art. The Hermitage Greenfield Prize (HGP) is a distinguished national commission awarded by the Hermitage Artist Retreat in partnership with the Philadelphia-based Greenfield Foundation; the $35,000 award rotates annually among visual art, theater, and music. The 2026 HGP winner’s newly commissioned work will have its first public presentation in Sarasota in the spring of 2028. Past performers at this event have included Tony Award-winning Hermitage Fellows Gavin Creel and Rachel Bay Jones, Tony Award nominee Eden Espinosa, Grammy Award-winning classical musicians, and more. 

    Sponsorship information and additional details for both events will be announced at a later date. For early sponsorship inquiries, call (941) 475-2098, Ext. 2.

    Past recipients of the Hermitage Greenfield Prize include: Rucyl Mills, sound artist/composer (2025); Deepa Purohit, playwright (2024); Sandy Rodriguez, visual artist (2023); Rennie Harris, dancer/choreographer (2023); Angélica Negrón, composer (2022); Aleshea Harris, playwright (2021); Helga Davis, composer/performer (2019); Martyna Majok, playwright (2018); David Burnett, photojournalist (2017); Coco Fusco, interdisciplinary artist (2016); Bobby Previte, composer/drummer (2015); Nilo Cruz, playwright (2014); Trenton Doyle Hancock, visual artist (2013); Vijay Iyer, composer/pianist (2012); John Guare, playwright (2011); Sanford Biggers, visual artist (2010); Craig Lucas, playwright (2009); and Eve Beglarian, composer (2009).

    Composer and Sound Artist Rucyl Mills Honored as Part of the 17th Annual Hermitage Greenfield Prize Weekend

    The annual Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner on Sunday, April 6th honored composer and sound artist Rucyl Mills. This was the central event of a three-day celebration, hosted by the Hermitage Artist Retreat(Andy Sandberg, Artistic Director and CEO) in partnership with the Greenfield Foundation. The gala evening was presented at Michael’s on East and featured inspiring performances from Tony and Emmy Award-nominated Broadway star Eden Espinosa (Wicked, Rent, Lempicka), accompanied by pianist Joseph Holt; original songs by Hermitage Fellow and Jonathan Larson Grant recipient Julian Hornik; a performance of Hermitage Fellow Zoe Sarnak’s music by Maicy Powell; and an appearance from acclaimed visual artist and Hermitage alumna Anne Patterson. The annual gala raised nearly $350,000 in support of the Hermitage’s mission, in addition to the Greenfield Foundation’s annual gift of $175,000. The festive evening was co-chaired by Robyn & Charles Citrin and Arthur Siciliano & B.Aline Blanchard. Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg served as master of ceremonies. As this year’s HGP recipient, Mills receives a $35,000 commission, along with an extended residency at the Hermitage Artist Retreat.

    The Hermitage Greenfield Prize (HGP) Dinner kicked off with an uplifting Hermitage video showcasing hurricane recovery efforts across campus and featuring excerpts from a robust season of Hermitage community programs. The inspirational video was followed by a powerhouse performance from Maicy Powell singing “Open Water” from the musical Afloat, which was developed in part at the Hermitage by Fellows Zoe Sarnak and Emily Kaczmarek. Andy Sandberg took the stage as master of ceremonies and spoke about the legacy and impact of the Hermitage Greenfield Prize, thanking Hermitage supporters, friends, and partners. This was followed by a brief video encapsulating the level of talent and the impact that the Hermitage Greenfield Prize has on the greater artistic landscape as well as the spotlight this prestigious award shines the region. Artistic Director of the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) and 2025 HGP juror Amy Cassello described Rucyl’s charismatic sound and performance as “embodied experience,” adding that “you can feel that level of love and engagement” in her work. Andy Sandberg retook the stage to introduce the evening’s headliner – Tony and Emmy Award nominated Broadway star Eden Espinosa. Espinosa won over the audience with a memorable rendition of Neil Diamond’s “Play Me,” followed by a powerful rendition of “Woman Is” from her Tony Award-nominated turn as Tamara de Lempicka, the title role of the recent Broadway musical Lempicka (co-written by Hermitage alum Carson Kreitzer). Accompanying the evening on piano was Joseph Holt. 

    “I’m so honored to be here tonight to give my time and talents to a wonderful organization that fosters new works, new creations, and new energy within the creative arts,” said Espinosa when speaking about the importance of the Hermitage. “Lempicka was in development for fifteen years, and I gave eleven glorious years to this piece, so it just goes to show you never how long it might take – but it’s worth the wait.”

    After a dinner provided by Michael’s On East, the festivities continued with a congratulatory video from past Hermitage Greenfield Prize winners Deepa Purohit (2024), Angélica Negrón (2022), and one of the first to receive the honor, four-time Tony Award nominee Craig Lucas (2009). Hermitage Fellow and world-renowned visual artist Anne Patterson then took the stage with a heartfelt expression of appreciation for outgoing President and CEO of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County (CFSC), Roxie Jerde. While at the helm of the CFSC, Jerde has been an integral supporter of the Hermitage and the Hermitage Greenfield Prize programming, as the lead community sponsor for nearly a decade. This was followed by a special appearance from renowned singer, musician, and Hermitage Fellow Julian Hornik, who charmed the audience with stories from his recent Hermitage residency and unforgettable performances of his original songs “Did I Miss It” composed while at the Hermitage earlier this year, and “James (Hush)” – drawing a parallel between author James Baldwin’s writing escapes on Fire Island and the invaluable gift of time and space that the Hermitage provides to artists on Manasota Key. 

    Following Hornik’s performance, Sandberg presented Rucyl Mills with this year’s Hermitage Greenfield Prize. “I’m so honored and grateful to be in this line-up,” said Mills in her acceptance speech. “The legacy of the artists who have won this award before me is truly remarkable. I’m thrilled to be able to spend time in residence at the Hermitage, where the air and incredible sounds of this part of our country will be all around me and informing my creative process. I can’t wait to get started!” 

    To close out this memorable night after an enthusiastic paddle raise, Eden Espinosa returned to the stage. “The world can be heavy sometimes these days,” said Espinosa. “It’s rooms like this that make my heart feel lighter and give me hope.” She took the audience’s breath away with her unforgettable rendition of John Lennon’s “Imagine.” 

    “This was a truly remarkable evening and a joyful celebration of music and this incredible prize,” said Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg. “It was an honor to celebrate Rucyl Mills, and we can’t wait to introduce her original commission to our Gulf Coast community. It was thrilling to hear unforgettable live performances from Eden Espinosa and original songs by Julian Hornik, along with inspiring remarks and performances from Anne Patterson, Maicy Powell, Joe Holt, and more. We are so grateful to the Greenfield Foundation, the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, and all our sponsors and donors for their belief in our mission and the support of new work.”

    The annual Prize Dinner anchored a series of events celebrating the impact and legacy of the Hermitage Greenfield Prize. The weekend kicked off on Friday, April 4th with two Hermitage premieres from 2023 HGP recipients Rennie Harris and Sandy Rodriguez at The Ringling. Los Angeles-based visual artist Sandy Rodriguez’s original exhibition Currents of Resistance opened at The Ringling’s Keith D. Monda Gallery, representing the latest in a series of collaborative exhibitions featuring Hermitage Greenfield Prize-winning visual artists at The Ringling, beginning with Sanford Biggers’ 2012 exhibition Codex. Rodriguez’s exhibition is on view now through August 10th. Rennie Harris, the first Hermitage Greenfield Prize recipient in the field of Dance & Choreography, offered two premiere presentations of his original dance piece Losing My Religion at The Ringling’s Historic Asolo Theater, with his acclaimed dance company Rennie Harris Puremovement. Then on Saturday, April 5th at Selby Gardens’ Historic Spanish Point, Hermitage audiences had a chance to “Meet Rucyl!” This event included an in-depth conversation with this year’s 2025 HGP Winner, offering an introduction to her work and career, as well as insight into her plans for this new commission and a sampling of Mills’ past work. 

    The Hermitage Greenfield Prize is presented in partnership with the Philadelphia-based Greenfield Foundation, who launched this initiative with the Hermitage in 2009. The Community Foundation of Sarasota County once again served as the lead community sponsor for this year’s festivities.

    Mills was selected by a distinguished jury that included Amy Cassello, Artistic Director of the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM); Lia Camille Crockett, music curator for organizations such as NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest, SXSW, and the founder of Parcha Projects; and Grammy Award-winning conductor and composer Robert Spano, Music Director at the Aspen Music Festival and Music Director Laureate for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. For her Hermitage commission, Mills plans to investigate our relationship to superstructures, which constitute a major part of the universe so massive that they challenge our understanding of how our universe evolved. Superstructures interact in ways that can be interpreted as vibrations or waves, which are analogous to sound in certain contexts. Mills will create a score that maps waves of pressure and gravity on to sonic frequencies, turning data into audio signals for the audience to interpret, allowing the listener to ‘hear’ cosmic events.

    Tony and Emmy Award Nominee Eden Espinosa to Perform at 2025 HGP Dinner

    The Hermitage Artist Retreat (Andy Sandberg, Artistic Director and CEO) today announced that Tony and Emmy Award nominee Eden Espinosa will perform at the 2025 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner on Sunday, April 6th. 

    Eden Espinosa is known for her Tony Award and Drama League-nominated performance as Tamera De Lempicka in the Broadway production of Lempicka, with concept, book, and lyrics by Hermitage Fellow Carson Kreitzer. Variety raved “Espinosa, starring in the title role, brings both luminosity and strength to her powerful performance.” Eden’s career as an actress, singer, and voiceover artist has spanned two decades on stage and screen. She is widely recognized for her critically acclaimed portrayals of Elphaba in Wicked (Broadway, Los Angeles, and San Francisco) and Maureen in the closing Broadway company of Rent. Espinosa’s passions also have extended to the development of new works, stemming from her early years originating the title role of the Broadway cult favorite Brooklyn the Musical, to more recently starring in Michael John LaChuisa’s The Gardens of Anuncia at Lincoln Center. Espinosa can be seen on television in roles on Brilliant Minds, The Equalizer, and FBI: Most Wanted. As a voiceover artist, Eden was nominated for an Emmy Award for her work as the Queen of Hearts in Disney’s Alice’s Wonderland Bakery.

    “We are incredibly excited to welcome Eden Espinosa to perform at our 17th annual Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner,” says Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg. “Eden is an extraordinary talent who is widely celebrated in the Broadway community as a brilliant interpreter of new and original works. We’re delighted she can join us on for this year’s celebration of music honoring 2025 HGP recipient Rucyl Mills.”

    Mills was selected by a distinguished jury that included Amy Cassello, Artistic Director of the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM); Lia Camille Crockett, music curator for organizations such as NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest, SXSW, and the founder of Parcha Projects; and Grammy Award-winning conductor and composer Robert Spano, Music Director at the Aspen Music Festival and Music Director Laureate for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.  

    This year’s event co-chairs are Robyn and Charles Citrin and Arthur Siciliano and B.Aline Blanchard. The Hermitage Greenfield Prize is presented by the Hermitage Artist Retreat in partnership with the Philadelphia-based Greenfield Foundation, with the Community Foundation of Sarasota County serving as the lead community sponsor. Additional sponsors include Gulf Coast Community Foundation, The Herald Tribune, and Sarasota Magazine. A full list of this year’s sponsors, benefactors, and partners can be found at https://HermitageArtistRetreat.org/HGPDinner2025/.

    Sponsorship levels for this Hermitage Spring benefit range from $1,500 to $10,000. Tables and sponsorships may be purchased by contacting Hermitage Development Director at (941) 475-2098, Ext. 2. The event has extremely limited capacity remaining. 

    The 2025 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Weekend Events

    The Hermitage Artist Retreat (Andy Sandberg, Artistic Director and CEO) announced today that 2025 Hermitage Greenfield Prize winner Rucyl Mills will have her first public Hermitage program at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens’ Historic Spanish Point. Combining jazz, avant-garde R&B, hip-hop, and more through a unique blend of electronics and vocals, Rucyl’s sound art is grounded in a belief that humanity can evolve and find new forms of creative expression. Join the Hermitage on Saturday, April 5th at 5:30pm for this free community event: “Meet Rucyl!” – An Hour with 2025 Hermitage Greenfield Prize winner Rucyl Mills, a creative process exploration and sampling of musical work from this artist blazing a trail to the future of music. 

    Rucyl Mills is an American sound artist and an original member of the politically charged hip-hop group The Goats, performing internationally alongside bands like Bad Brains, Fishbone, and The Beastie Boys. Her creative methodologies deeply lean on punk, early dancehall, lovers rock, black folk, new wave, hip-hop, jazz, and experimental musical genres that celebrate anti-conventional compositional structure and performance as protest. Her preferred palette of electronic instruments and experimental softwarerepresents her belief that humanity can gracefully evolve using technology in art by democratizing access and fostering new forms of creative expression and collaboration. Inspired by the experimental jazz musician Sun Ra, Mills co-founded Saturn Never Sleeps, an improvisational futuretronic label and audiovisual group. Mills has created interactive musical experiences, including the “Chakakhantroller,” a wearable MIDI controller for solo audiovisual performance; and “Sound Prism,” a solar-powered interactive installation that explores sound as a physical representation of the frequencies of the color spectrum.

    The following night, Rucyl Mills will be celebrated at the 17th annual Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner on Sunday, April 6th, a benefit for the Hermitage Artist Retreat, starting at 6pm at Michael’s On East (Sarasota, Florida). The event will feature live musical performances. Past performers have included Tony and Grammy Award winner Rachel Bay Jones, Tony Award nominee Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, and Tony Award winner Gavin Creel. This elegant annual dinner heralds the jury-selected recipient of this prestigious prize, awarded this season in the discipline of music. The Hermitage Greenfield Prize (HGP) is a distinguished national commission awarded by the Hermitage Artist Retreat in partnership with the Philadelphia-based Greenfield Foundation; the $35,000 award rotates annually among music, theater, and visual art. The 2025 winner’s newly commissioned work will have its first public presentation in Sarasota in the spring of 2027. The Hermitage Greenfield Prize Celebration is presented in partnership with the Greenfield Foundation, with Community Foundation of Sarasota County serving as Lead Community Sponsor. Additional sponsors include Gulf Coast Community Foundation, The Herald Tribune, and Sarasota Magazine. Event Co-Chairs for this year’s gala dinner are Robyn & Charles Citrin and Arthur Siciliano & B.Aline Blanchard. A full list of this year’s sponsors can be found at https://HermitageArtistRetreat.org/HGPDinner2025/.

    Sponsorship levels for this Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner, the organization’s spring benefit, range from $1,500 to $10,000. Tables and sponsorships may be purchased by contacting the Hermitage Development Office at (941) 475-2098, Ext. 2, or by emailing Development@HermitageArtistRetreat.org. The event has extremely limited capacity remaining. 

    In addition to the free community event with Rucyl Mills on April 5th and the Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner on April 6th, the 2025 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Celebration will welcome commission premieres from 2023 HGP recipients Rennie Harris and Sandy Rodriguez at The Ringling. Los Angeles-based visual artist Sandy Rodriguez’s original exhibition Currents of Resistance will be on view in The Ringling’s Keith D. Monda Gallery and represents the latest in a series of collaborative exhibitions featuring Hermitage Greenfield Prize-winning visual artists at The Ringling, beginning with Sanford Biggers’ 2012 exhibition Codex. Rodriguez’s exhibition will be on view to museum visitors from April 5th through August 10th. Rennie Harris, the first Hermitage Greenfield Prize recipient in the field of Dance & Choreography, will offer the first public presentations of his original dance piece Losing My Religion at the Ringling’s Historic Asolo Theater on the evenings of April 4th and 5th, with his acclaimed dance company Rennie Harris Puremovement. 

    Music and Sound Artist Rucyl Mills Wins 2025 Hermitage Greenfield Prize

    The Hermitage Artist Retreat (Andy Sandberg, Artistic Director and CEO), in collaboration with the Philadelphia-based Greenfield Foundation, has selected sound and music artist Rucyl Mills as the winner of the 2025 Hermitage Greenfield Prize (HGP). Mills employs a unique approach to music composition that blends noise art, bass wave, sample collage, and avant-garde R&B. She uses MIDI controllers, drone synths, and effects processors to create experimental compositions that are kinetic architectures for stage and film.  

    The Hermitage Greenfield Prize is awarded annually, rotating between the fields of music, theater, and visual art. Mills will receive a six-week Hermitage Fellowship and a $35,000 commission to create a new work of music, which will have its first public presentation in Sarasota in 2027. 

    Mills was selected by a distinguished jury that included Amy Cassello, Artistic Director of the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM); Lia Camille Crockett, music curator for organizations such as NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest, SXSW, and the founder of Parcha Projects; and Grammy Award-winning conductor and composer Robert Spano, Music Director at the Aspen Music Festival and Music Director Laureate for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Past winners of this distinguished honor in the discipline of music includeAngélica Negrón (2022), Helga Davis (2019), Bobby Previte (2015), Vijay Iyer (2012), and Eve Beglarian (2009). 

    “Amidst a remarkable field of four brilliant finalists, this extraordinary jury faced an incredibly difficult task in selecting a single recipient. Rucyl Mills emerged as an ambitious and original musical voice who impressed the jury with her innovative and forward-thinking proposal,” says Hermitage Artistic Director Andy Sandberg. “Her genre-bending approach to the musical art form embodies the mission of the Hermitage Greenfield Prize: to bring into the world works of art that have a significant impact on the broad as well as the artistic culture of our society. We thank our distinguished jurors for their passion and dedication, and we congratulate all four exceptional finalists, whom we look forward to welcoming at the Hermitage. We’re excited to host Rucyl in Florida for the Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner in April, and subsequently as a Hermitage Fellow in anticipation of the first public presentation of her new commission in Sarasota in 2027.”

    Rucyl Mills is an American sound artist and an original member of the politically charged hip-hop group The Goats, performing internationally alongside bands like Bad Brains, Fishbone, and The Beastie Boys. Her creative methodologies deeply lean on punk, early dancehall, lovers rock, black folk, new wave, hip-hop, jazz, and experimental musical genres that celebrate anti-conventional compositional structure and performance as protest. Her preferred palette of electronic instruments and experimental software represents her belief that humanity can gracefully evolve using technology in art by democratizing access, and fostering new forms of creative expression and collaboration. Inspired by the experimental jazz musician Sun Ra, Mills co-founded Saturn Never Sleeps, an improvisational futuretronic label and audiovisual group. Mills has created interactive musical experiences, including the “Chakakhantroller,” a wearable MIDI controller for solo audiovisual performance; and “Sound Prism,” a solar powered interactive installation that explores sound as a physical representation of the frequencies of the color spectrum.

    Three finalists for the 2025 Hermitage Greenfield Prize include Samora Pinderhughes, an Emmy Award-winning composer and multidisciplinary artist; Xenia Rubinos, a New York-based vocalist, composer, and performing artist; and Conrad Tao, an award-winning composer, pianist, and Hermitage alumnus. All three will receive a Hermitage residency, in addition to a finalist prize of $1,000.

    “Great works of art get made when the community coalesces around an artist’s imagination and courage,” said 2025 HGP juror and BAM Artistic Director Amy Cassello. “The Hermitage Greenfield Prize allows time in a beautiful place for artists to experiment and grow. Rucyl Mills is inspired by the complexities and vastness of the universe. Her work as a sound artist brings human beings closer together.”

    “All of the artists were so thoughtful and unique in their approaches that it was just a rewarding and fruitful process,” added Parcha Projects founder Lia Camille Crockett. “Rucyl really sparked a curiosity in all of us — in a way that makes us all genuinely excited to see the outcome of her residency and commission. What is also great is that all of the finalists get a Hermitage residency, and this experience is so vital to the creative process.”

    “The Hermitage Greenfield Prize has now such a rich history of honoring, nurturing, and promoting the intense creativity of its recipients,” said Grammy Award-winning conductor and composer Robert Spano, also a Hermitage alumnus. “The unique, visionary, and innovative work of Rucyl Mills makes her an ideal choice to fulfill the mission of the prize. I look forward with great anticipation and excitement to hearing the work that this opportunity will afford her to produce. She is an inspiring creative force!”

    “I am so honored to receive this award,” said Mills upon learning of her recognition as this year’s HGP winner. “Creating a new piece at the Hermitage will provide such a fertile and enriching environment with no distraction. I am thrilled to be able to further evolve my personal relationship to sound in a space where so many incredible artists have created before me.”

    For her Hermitage commission, Rucyl Mills plans to create a notational score and composition that investigates our relationship to superstructures both physically and sonically. Superstructures constitute a major part of the universe; they are so massive that they challenge our understanding of how our universe evolved. “Sound, in the conventional sense, does not travel through the vacuum of space,” notes Mills. “It requires a medium like air or water to propagate. Superstructures interact in ways that can be interpreted as vibrations or waves, which are analogous to sound in certain contexts.” Mills will create a score that maps waves of pressure and gravity on to sonic frequencies, turning ‘Quipu’ data into audio signals for the audience to interpret, allowing the listener to ‘hear’ cosmic events using electronic instruments. Quipu was recently discovered in 2024 and is the largest group of superstructures discovered to date. 

    Rucyl Mills will be celebrated at the Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner on Sunday, April 6 at 6pm at Michael’s On East in Sarasota, Florida. Event Co-Chairs are Robyn & Charles Citrin and Arthur Siciliano & B.Aline Blanchard. Capacity will be limited, so early reservations are strongly recommended. Tables and sponsorships are now available; additional information can be found at HermitageArtistRetreat.org.

    In addition to the Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner on April 6, the Hermitage Greenfield Prize Celebration will include programs April 4-6 with current and past HGP winners, 2025, including the HGP commission premieres from 2023 recipients Rennie Harris and Sandy Rodriguez at The Ringling. The Hermitage Greenfield Prize Celebration is presented in partnership with the Greenfield Foundation, with the Community Foundation of Sarasota County serving as the Lead Community Sponsor.