The Hermitage Artist Retreat (Sarasota County, Florida) announced today that three Florida public school arts teachers will spend part of their summer on Manasota Key while working on their own artistic endeavors. They are the recipients of the 2025 State Teachers Artist Residency program (STARs) – now in its fifteenth year – presented by the Hermitage Artist Retreat in partnership with the Florida Alliance for Arts Education (FAAE). This year’s recipients were selected from dozens of impressive applicants, and the three teachers selected from across the State of Florida include two visual arts educators and a theater teacher recognized for her playwriting talents. These three artists receive a residency at the nationally renowned Hermitage Artist Retreat, where they can focus on their own work as creative artists. These teaching artists will present a family-friendly showcase of their work on Friday, July 11 starting at 11:30am. This special event will be held at the Englewood YMCA, by invitation only for the students in the community.
The program is presented in partnership with the Englewood YMCA. This special Hermitage program will be offered to the summer students at the YMCA.
“These exceptional educators are also talented artists and creative minds in their own right,” says Andy Sandberg, Artistic Director and CEO of the Hermitage. “During the academic year, their attention is devoted to their students. The STARs program offers these distinguished teachers the opportunity to experience what leading artists from around the world have come to the Hermitage for – to focus on their craft and their creative process. Over the years, the STARs from counties across Florida have created some stunning works of art, music, theater, dance, and literature during their time at the Hermitage. Many Hermitage teaching artist alumni have shared that this program enables them to return to their students with a new fire and passion for arts education.”
The three recipients of this year’s honor, selected among dozens of impressive applicants, include:Jennifer Bennett, a theater arts educator, actor, director, and playwright (Seminole County); Abbey Kish, a drawing instructor whose work focuses on printmaking, drawing, and photography (Orange County); and Emma Olivia Chandler, a metalsmith, artist, and arts educator at Blake High School (Hillsborough County). Full bios are included below.
Since the start of the Hermitage STARs program in 2011, 70 teachers have represented over 30Florida counties. These prestigious residencies culminate with a free student program hosted in partnership with the Englewood YMCA.
The STARs program is one of the only Hermitage residency programs open to application; arts educators from schools throughout the State of Florida are eligible, including music, theater, visual art, dance, and creative writing teachers. For more information about the Hermitage STARs program and how to apply, Florida arts educators are encouraged to visit https://www.faae.org/star.
Hermitage 2025 STARs Teaching Artist Bios
Jennifer Bennett (Seminole County, Florida) is a theater arts educator, actor, director, and playwright originally from Miami, Florida. She has been teaching theater for over twenty years, focusing on building creativity, community, and audaciousness in her students. She has directed at the Orlando International Fringe Festival and Breakthrough Theatre. Favorite acting roles include Mistress Quickly (The Merry Wives of Windsor), Ivy Weston (August: Osage County), and Deliverance Hobbs (A Salem Story). Her most recent project, Florida School Board Meeting, premiered at New Play Festival at Breakthrough Theatre, where it sold out both shows and was invited back for a longer run. Jennifer lives in Orlando, Florida.
Abbey Kish (Orange County, Florida) is an artist and art educator based in central Florida. A drawing instructor with Orange County Public Schools, Abbey’s artistic work combines photography, printmaking, and drawing, often through cyanotype. She has participated in juried exhibitions locally and nationally, including the Florida Printmakers Biennial in Miami, Mise en Abyme in Tampa, and Remarque Printmaking in New Mexico. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Abbey’s work is influenced by the region’s rust-belt history, as well as themes of memory and the past’s impact on the present. Her expressive work is created intuitively, with a focus on mark marking, movement, and energy in her compositions. She holds degrees in Printmaking and Art Education from Kent State University. Abbey continues to share her passion for art through community workshops at the Maitland Art Center, and she has been teaching art in Orange County Public Schools for nearly ten years.
Emma Olivia Chandler (Hillsborough County, Florida) is a metalsmith, artist, and arts educator at Blake High School in Hillsborough County. Her first experience with saw-and-torch was at Blake High in Tampa, where she now teaches the next generation of metalsmiths. She holds an MA in Metals + Jewelry from Ball State University and an MFA in Metal from SUNY New Paltz. Her artwork explores nature, history, and folklore, illuminating their commonalities. She fabricates contemporary heirlooms, translating ephemeral objects such as clouds, maple pods, and cicadas into wearable sculpture. Carapaces of insects, brittle bird bones, and shards of pottery are noticed, retrieved, and pored over – as fodder for the next works of art.