Category: State of the Arts

Hermitage Receives $80,000 Grant from Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts 

The Hermitage Artist Retreat has received an $80,000 grant award from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts in support of Hermitage visual artists and their associated public programming. These funds, spread across a two-year period, are intended to support and increase visibility for the work of Hermitage Fellows in the visual arts through support of these artists’ Hermitage residencies and associated programming.

This is the first grant award for the Hermitage from the Warhol Foundation, which is committed to providing visual artists with invaluable, career-advancing opportunities to work in partnership with other artists and organizations. The Hermitage also supports the work of artists spanning the disciplines of music, theater, literature, dance, and more.

In accordance with the will of legendary artist Andy Warhol, the mission of the Warhol Foundation is the advancement of the visual arts. The foundation manages an innovative and dynamic grants program while also preserving Warhol’s legacy through creative and responsible licensing policies and extensive scholarly research for ongoing catalogue raisonné projects. To date, the foundation has awarded nearly $300 million in cash grants to over 1,000 arts organizations around the United States and abroad, and has donated 52,786 works of art to 322 institutions worldwide. 

Andy Warhol was an avant-garde artist and philanthropic visionary; his life, work, and directive to establish a foundation for “the advancement of the visual arts” are a testament to that. The Foundation honors his cultural influence in their core values and all of the Foundation’s activities. In strong mission alignment with the Hermitage, The Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts believes in the intrinsic value of experimental artistic practice and promote artistic participation in cultural conversations at the highest level, and celebrates artistic expression as an integral part of democracy, risk-taking, and supporting underserved communities. 

“We are truly grateful to the Warhol Foundation for recognizing and celebrating the Hermitage’s contributions to the world of visual arts,” says Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg. “This invaluable support will help us to further champion the work and creative process of the diverse and accomplished Hermitage artists who are making a meaningful impact in our community and around the world.”

“We are pleased to support the Hermitage Artist Retreat, which supports and inspires artists to make ambitious new work,” says Rachel Bers, Program Director at the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. “Through its residencies and public programs, the Hermitage provides artists with important opportunities to nurture their creativity and connect audiences to their work.”

Through the Hermitage’s long standing collaboration with The Ringling Museum of Art, memorable exhibitions from Hermitage Fellows have included Sanford Biggers, Trenton Doyle Hancock, R. Luke DuBois, Anne Patterson, Coco Fusco, Laurie Olinder, David Burnett, and more. Hermitage Greenfield Prize (HGP) winner Sandy Rodriguez’s exhibition Currents of Resistance debuts at The Ringling in April, resulting from her Hermitage commission, while Hermitage Fellow Jess T. Dugan: I Want You to Know My Name is on view at The Ringling through February.

The Hermitage presented two acclaimed alumni exhibitions at the Sarasota Art Museum in 2024. Impact: Contemporary Artists at the Hermitage Artist Retreat, featured work from ten nationally and internationally renowned Hermitage alumni artists: Diana Al-Hadid, Sanford Biggers (2010 Hermitage Greenfield Prize winner), Chitra Ganesh, Todd Gray, Trenton Doyle Hancock (2013 Hermitage Greenfield Prize winner), Michelle Lopez, Ted Riederer, the late John Sims, Kukuli Velarde, and William Villalongo; Impact was overseen by guest curator and former Hermitage Curatorial Council member Dan Cameron.This robust and imaginative exhibition featured work across a range of media, including sculpture, painting, installation, video, photography, printmaking, ceramics, textiles, and social practice, all contemplating the various ways the Hermitage residency had and continues to impact their creative practice. The Truth of the Night Sky, a Hermitage collaboration, was the second exhibition of Hermitage alumni premiering at Sarasota Art Museum. After meeting while in residence at the Hermitage Artist Retreat ten years ago and building on their friendship and collaboration, multidisciplinary visual artist Anne Patterson and composer Patrick Harlin joined forces to develop a one-of-a-kind immersive experience. The exhibition featured several works by Patterson, as well as a suspended tree and her signature satin ribbon installation work. With each step, visitors traveled imaginatively through space and time. Of their time at the Hermitage Artist Retreat, Patterson and Harlin are fond of saying that their experience was invaluable to their craft and their collaboration, allowing them to achieve new heights, find a unique environmental inspiration, and explore new possibilities in their work. The Sarasota Art Museum also recently presented the work of Hermitage Fellow Juana Valdés, entitled Embodied Memories, Ancestral Histories.

A leading national arts incubator, the Hermitage is the only major arts organization in Florida’s Gulf Coast exclusively committed to supporting the development and creation of new work across all artistic disciplines. The Hermitage hosts artists on its Gulf Coast Manasota Key campus for multi-week residencies, where diverse and accomplished artists from around the world and across multiple disciplines create and develop new works of visual art, theater, music, literature, dance, film, and more. As part of their residencies, Hermitage Fellows participate in free year-round community programs, offering audiences in the region a unique opportunity to engage with some of the world’s leading artists and to get an authentic “sneak peek” into extraordinary projects and artistic minds before their works go on to major galleries, concert halls, theaters, and museums around the world. These free and innovative programs include performances, conversations, readings, music concerts, interactive experiences, open studios, school programs, teacher workshops, and more, serving thousands in our regional community each year.

Hermitage Announces New Members of National Curatorial Council

The Hermitage Artist Retreat recently announced its 2024-2025 Curatorial Council, comprised of distinguished national arts leaders spanning the fields of theater, music, visual art, literature, and arts education. The newest additions to the Council include two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage; three-time Grammy Award-nominated recording artist and composer Shara Nova; New York Times bestselling author and one of Time’s “100 Most Influential People of 2024” Lauren Groff; the Brooklyn Museum’s Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art Kimberli Gant (pictured here); New Victory Theater’s Director of Education Courtney J. Boddie; President and Executive Director of Creative Capital Christine Kuan; and founder of Arts Corp and Arts Education Manager for the City of Seattle Tina LaPadula. 

The full National Curatorial Council for the Hermitage’s 2024-2025 season, comprised of fourteen accomplished and diverse nominating members from across the United States, includes: 

  • Sanford Biggers (visual art), Celebrated Visual and Multimedia Artist, Guggenheim Fellow, Hermitage Greenfield Prize Winner
  • Courtney J. Boddie* (arts education), Director of Education at New Victory Theater
  • Kimberli Gant* (visual art), Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art, The Brooklyn Museum 
  • Nataki Garrett (theater), Co-Artistic Director of One Nation/One Project; Doris Duke Award-Winning Artistic Director
  • Lauren Groff* (literature) New York Times Bestselling Author and Time’s “100 Most Influential People of 2024”
  • Cathy Park Hong (literature), Award-Winning Author and Time’s “100 Most Influential People of 2021”
  • Mitchell S. Jackson (literature), Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author
  • Rajiv Joseph (theater), Award-Winning Playwright and Screenwriter; Member of Steppenwolf Theater, Chicago 
  • Christine Kuan* (visual art), President & Executive Director, Creative Capital
  • Tina LaPadula* (arts education), Founder of Arts Corps & Arts Ed Manager, City of Seattle 
  • Terrance McKnight (music) Evening Host of WNYC/WQXR Radio 
  • Lynn Nottage* (theater) Two-Time Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwright
  • Shara Nova* (music), Three-Time Grammy Award-Nominated Recording Artist and Composer; Creator of My Brightest Diamond 
  • Du Yun (music), Pulitzer Prize-Winning and Grammy Award-Nominated Composer

*New to the Council as of 2024

“We are honored to welcome these visionary and forward-thinking arts leaders to the Hermitage Curatorial Council,” says Andy Sandberg, Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO. “Courtney J. Boddie, Kimberli Gant, Lauren Groff, Christine Kuan, Tina LaPadula, Lynn Nottage, and Shara Nova are innovative creative minds with a finger on the pulse, each highly regarded for their unique contributions to their respective fields. The members of this esteemed Curatorial Council share a collective passion for the development and creation of new work from bold and diverse voices, and we are incredibly fortunate to have these luminaries of the arts in the Hermitage family. With their breadth of experience, their vast networks, and their insightful ability to identify extraordinary talent, the selection of this next wave of Hermitage Fellows is in exceptionally capable hands.”

Lynn Nottage, a Hermitage alumna and a living legend in the world of the theater, is the first woman in history to win two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama. Her plays have been produced widely in the United States and throughout the world. Recent work includes the libretto for the opera Intimate Apparel (Lincoln Center), the libretto for the musical MJ (Broadway), Clyde’s (Broadway, 2ST), and co-curating the performance installation The Watering Hole (Signature Theater). Past works include the musical adaptation of The Secret Life of Bees (Atlantic Theater); Mlima’s Tale; Sweat (Pulitzer Prize, Obie, Evening Standard Award, Susan Smith Blackburn Prize); By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (Lilly Award); Ruined (Pulitzer Prize, Obie, Lortel, NY Drama Critics’ Circle, AUDELCO, Drama Desk and OCC awards); Intimate Apparel (American Theater Critics’ and NY Drama Critics’ Circle Awards). TV: Writer/Producer of She’s Gotta Have It (Netflix), Consulting Producer on Dickinson (Apple TV+). Awards: PEN/Laura Pels Master Dramatist Award, Doris Duke Artist Award, American Academy of Arts and Letters Award, MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellowship. She is an Associate Professor at Columbia University School of the Arts and a member of the Dramatists Guild.

Shara Nova is a three-time Grammy Award nominee, composer, vocalist, musician, and an artist of many gifts, currently creating from Detroit, Michigan. Most recently, she co-starred in the Tony Award-winning musical Illinoise on Broadway, directed by Justin Peck, co-written by fellow Hermitage alumna Jackie Sibblies Drury, with music by Sufjan Stevens. Shara has released five albums under the moniker My Brightest Diamond, and she has composed works for yMusic, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Young New Yorkers’ Chorus, Brooklyn Rider, Nadia Sirota, and Roomful of Teeth, among others. Her orchestrations have been performed by the Aarhus Symfoni, North Carolina Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, and the BBC Concert orchestra. Nova is a Kresge fellow, a Carolina Performing Arts Creative Futures fellow, a Knights Grant recipient, and a United States Artists Fellow. A Hermitage Fellow herself, Shara collaborated with 2019 Hermitage Greenfield Prize winner Helga Davis on the world premiere of Ocean Body. 

Lauren Groff is a three-time National Book Award finalist and The New York
Times best-selling author of the novels The Monsters of Templeton, Arcadia, Fates and Furies, Matrix, and The Vaster Wilds, as well as the celebrated short story collections Delicate Edible Birds and Florida. In 2024, Groff was named one of the “100 Most Influential People” by TIME Magazine. She has won The Story Prize, the ABA Indies’ Choice Award, France’s Grand Prix de l’Héroïne, and the Joyce Carol Oates Prize, and has been a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Her work has been translated into thirty-six languages and regularly appears in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and elsewhere. 

Christine Kuan is President and Executive Director of Creative Capital, a non-profit organization funding artists creating experimental and groundbreaking new work in the visual arts, performing arts, film, technology, literature, and multidisciplinary forms. Before joining Creative Capital, Kuan was CEO & Director of Sotheby’s Institute of Art, Chief Curator and Director of Strategic Partnerships at Artsy, Chief Curatorial Officer and VP for External Affairs at Artstor, and Editor-in-Chief of Oxford Art Online/Grove Art Online at Oxford University Press. A juror for the 2023 Hermitage Greenfield Prize in visual art, Kuan has also worked at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and serves on the advisory committee at The Frick Collection in New York and The Brooklyn Rail. 

Courtney J. Boddie is the Director of Education & School Engagement at New Victory Theater, overseeing all programs related to school communities including the New Victory school partnership program, teacher professional development training in the performing arts, and an innovative approach in the professional development of more than 50 New Victory Teaching Artists. A Hermitage alumna herself, Boddie has expanded the theater’s scope of work in programs such as “Victory Dance,” “Create,” and “GIVE” all supporting students of the arts and the professional development of teaching artists. Boddie is also the Creator and Host of “Teaching Artistry with Courtney J. Boddie,” a monthly podcast featuring engaging and investigative interviews, roundtable conversations, and panels with artists and arts education leaders. She is an adjunct professor at NYU Steinhardt and was awarded the TYA Community Impact Award for her leadership in New Victory SPARK (Schools with the Performing Arts Reach Kids), a multi-year arts program that has transformed school communities previously underserved in the arts. 

Kimberli Gant, PhD, is the Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. She was previously the McKinnon Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art at the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk, VA, and has also worked as the Mellon Doctoral Fellow at the Newark Museum, and Director of Exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Art (MoCADA). A Hermitage Fellow herself, Gant has curated numerous exhibitions and gallery reinstallations, including for artists such as Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys, Spike Lee, Jacob Lawrence, Tuan Andrew Nguyen, Brendan Fernandes, and John Akomfrah. 

Tina LaPadula is a champion for equitable art-making and learning opportunities. For more than fifteen years, LaPadula poured her creative energy into Arts Corps, the award-winning arts and social justice nonprofit she helped found. She has collaborated with The Frye Museum, The Museum of History and Industry, and Bumbershoot Arts and Music Festival to curate exhibitions and events that elevate the art and perspectives of young people. As a teaching artist, LaPadula has taught for Centrum Arts, Seattle Children’s Theatre, The University of Washington, and in a multitude of schools and afterschool programs. She has served as a consultant to many cultural organizations facilitating workshops on racial justice and the arts. LaPadula advocates for the growth and development of teaching artists locally and nationally, notably as the founder of the Seattle Teaching Artist Network, as a faculty member for the Washington State Teaching Artist Training Lab, as the former chair of the Association of Teaching Artists, and on the National Advisory Team for the Teaching Artist Guild. Her writing and opinions have been featured by Americans for the Arts and The National Guild for Community Arts Education.

Members of the Hermitage Curatorial Council are experts in their disciplines and connected to some of the world’s most renowned artists and cultural institutions. Each year, the Council selects artists of extraordinary ability who are already making an impact in their field – artists, writers, performers, and educators who are eager to continue developing bold and impactful new works, and who may benefit creatively from a distinguished Hermitage Fellowship.

*Since national and international Hermitage Fellowships are curated, there is no application for a Hermitage residency; neither the Hermitage staff nor members of the Curatorial Council can accept applications or solicitations. However, Sarasota County artists and arts teachers in Florida schools can find information on how to apply to select programs (John Ringling Towers Fellowships and Hermitage STARs) through the Hermitage website.

Composer and Soprano Hannah Rice Wins 2024 Hermitage Prize in Composition 

The Hermitage Artist Retreat and the Aspen Music Festival and School (Aspen, Colorado) are pleased to announce that Hannah Rice, a composition student at AMFS, has been selected as the recipient of the 2024 Hermitage Prize in Composition. Rice is the eleventh recipient of this annual award, which includes a residency at the Hermitage, along with a $1,000 cash stipend. Rice was selected by a jury that includes multiple Grammy Award winner Robert Spano, Music Director of the AMFS, Artistic Director Laureate of the Atlanta Symphony, and a past member of the Hermitage Curatorial Council; award-winning composer and celebrated arts administrator Alan Fletcher, AMFS President and CEO; and the composition faculty of the AMFS, including Grammy Award-winning Hermitage Fellow Christopher Theofanidis.

Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg presented the award to Rice at the Aspen Music Festival’s Klein Tent, alongside Spano, Fletcher, Theofanidis, and award-winning composer and Hermitage Fellow Nico Muhly. This unique initiative, launched in 2013, reflects an invaluable partnership between AMFS and the Hermitage, designed to champion new and original works and to recognize exceptional talent in the field of contemporary classical music. To celebrate the tenth anniversary of this award last year, the Hermitage and AMFS produced a retrospective video featuring exclusive interviews with past winners, distinguished AMFS faculty members, and renowned thought leaders in music, which can be seen here. With established composers like Spano, Fletcher, Theofanidis, Muhly and more having experienced memorable Hermitage Fellowships, the Hermitage Prize in Composition was created to offer the same experience to young, talented composers just beginning their professional careers.

“We are thrilled to recognize Hannah Rice as the winner of the eleventh Hermitage Prize. She is a brilliant young composer and vocalist, and a welcome addition to the Hermitage family,” noted Sandberg. “We were delighted that the weekend’s festivities could be celebrated alongside fellow Hermitage alumni including Robert Spano, Alan Fletcher, Nico Muhly, and Christopher Theofanidis.” Sandberg adds that the Hermitage Prize at AMFS is the only student residency awarded each year; all other Hermitage Fellows are accomplished working professionals and leaders in their field, selected by the Hermitage’s National Curatorial Council. “This provides the recipient of the annual Hermitage Prize in Composition the opportunity to share this unmatched Hermitage experience with leading artists from all around the world.” 

This year’s 75th Anniversary season of the Aspen Music Festival featured works and performances from Hermitage alumni including Alan Fletcher, Allison Loggins-Hull, Wang Lu, Missy Mazzoli, Jessie Montgomery, Nico Muhly, Robert Spano, Conrad Tao, and Christopher Theofanidis.

Hermitage Fellows have included 17 Pulitzer Prize winners, multiple Grammy, Oscar, Emmy, and Tony winners, Poets Laureate, MacArthur ‘Genius’ Fellows, and more. Hermitage Fellows regularly describe their time at the Hermitage as “magical,” “transformative,” and “life-changing.”

“I am so honored and humbled to have received this year’s Hermitage Prize in Composition,” added Rice after learning the news of her recognition. “I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to all those involved with the selection process and the Hermitage Artist Retreat. I feel so privileged and thrilled to get to work on my craft alongside so many outstanding creative thinkers. As artists, it is so rare to have this kind of time and space available to us to live in a ‘sound world’ and discover what our musical souls are yearning to say, and I feel incredibly lucky and excited to have been gifted this time at the Hermitage.” 

Hannah Rice is a composer and soprano who is drawn to extremes. A 2024 Composition Fellow at the Aspen Music Festival, she writes with dense textures and stark contrasts to highlight the experiences of women and queer folks through a feminist lens. Rice’s music has been performed at notable festivals and venues including Carnegie Hall, Cadogan Hall in London, New Music on the Point, the International Clarinet Festival, Atlantic Music Festival, and more. Her film music has also been featured on APM Music’s sound library, MPATH, and in 2021, her choral piece “To Fly a Plane” was published by Hal Leonard. Currently, Rice is pursuing a double M.M. at USC’s Thornton School of Music, where she was recently awarded the Peter David Faith Endowed Memorial Award. She holds a B.M. in Composition and Voice from LSU, where she was named a Presser Scholar and University Medalist. 

Previous residencies of AMFS Hermitage Prize recipients have led to exciting collaborations, lifelong friendships, and extraordinary new compositions. The first winner of this award in 2013 was Patrick Harlin. While in residence at the Hermitage, Harlin met acclaimed designer and visual artist Anne Patterson. The two sparked a decade-long collaboration that has led to the current world premiere exhibition, “The Truth of the Night Sky,” currently on view at the Sarasota Art Museum through September 29. Harlin and Patterson also spent time at the Hermitage with AMFS composer Christopher Theofanidis and celebrated poet Melissa Studdard; as a result, these four Hermitage alumni are now working on an oratorio adaptation of Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha, which will premiere at the Aspen Musical Festival in 2025.

Past winner David Clay Mettens (2021) said of winning the Hermitage Prize: “My time at the Hermitage was such a gift – I found the natural beauty of the grounds to be rejuvenating and my interactions with artists from other disciplines so artistically fulfilling. I can’t imagine a better opportunity for a young composer than to be in the presence of creative luminaries in their respective fields.” Sofía Rocha (2022) added, “Some of the most valuable experiences that I got out of my time at AMFS and the Hermitage were interacting with so many other wonderful artists. Aspen is filled with wonderful musicians, and Hermitage artists span so many different disciplines – and I find that incredibly fulfilling and inspiring.” Previous Hermitage Prize recipients include Patrick Harlin (2013), Thomas Kotcheff (2014), Phillip Sink (2015), Andrew Hsu (2016), Joel Thompson (2017), Sid Richardson (2018), Chelsea Komschlies (2019), David Clay Mettens (2021), Sofía Rocha (2022), and Matīss Čudars (2023).

Hermitage Receives Over $238,000 in National and Regional Grants

The Hermitage Artist Retreat (Sarasota County, Florida) announced today that the Hermitage has been awarded nearly a dozen grants totaling over $238,000 that will support a variety of programs and initiatives, including residencies for Hermitage Fellows, arts education support, and program accessibility. Grants were awarded by the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Amphion Foundation, Gulf Coast Community Foundation, Community Foundation of Sarasota County, The Exchange, Koski Family Foundation, Tourist Development Cultural/Arts Program, National Endowment for the Arts, and Plantation Community Foundation.

The Board of Sarasota County Commissioners recently approved the Tourist Development Cultural/Arts Program (TDC/A) funding, resulting in a grant award in excess of $52,000 for the Hermitage to facilitate artist residencies and programming that supports tourism to Sarasota County. Hermitage Fellows, alumni, and curators are some of the leading artists and thinkers in their respective fields from all over the world. These world-renowned creators share their artistic talents and insight into their creative process through free community programs held on the Hermitage campus, as well as at partner arts, cultural, and educational institutions throughout the region. These impactful and educational programs offer a wide variety of free events to tourists staying in all areas of Sarasota County.

The Welles Murphey Fund at Gulf Coast Community Foundation (GCCF) provided a $50,000 Empowering Arts Grant in support of the Hermitage’s mission: to inspire and foster the most influential and culturally consequential art and artists of our time. The Hermitage became one of Gulf Coast’s “Arts Appreciation” grantees in 2021, and this year’s grant marks a $10,000 increase from previous years; GCCF has additionally supported the Hermitage through other special programs and with pandemic/hurricane relief efforts in recent years.

The Hermitage was awarded a $50,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Sarasota County(CFSC) to once again serve as the Lead Community Sponsor for the Hermitage Greenfield Prize Weekend. This will be the eighth year of CFSC’s support of this annual celebration, which is presented in partnership with the Greenfield Foundation; this year’s events are scheduled for the first weekend in April of 2025. 

The Koski Family Foundation again awarded the Hermitage a $50,000 grant to support residencies for teaching artists, in addition to the continued support of the Hermitage’s Sarasota Cross Arts Collaborative initiative. This generous grant allows the Hermitage to foster the development of new work for teaching artists while providing local schools the benefit of these extraordinary artists’ insight and instruction. The Cross Arts Collaborative was designed to give performers who call local arts institutions “home” a chance to expand their artistic practice from ‘performer’ to ‘creator.’ Recipients receive two weeks of uninterrupted time at the Hermitage Artist Retreat to develop a new project and present a free public program for the greater Sarasota community. 

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) renewed its support for the Hermitage this year with a $15,000 grant. These funds are intended to support the Hermitage’s nationally renowned artist residency program. 

Additional community program support came from The Exchange, which awarded $10,000 to support “Hermitage North” programming through series such as “Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens” and “Hermitage Sunsets @ Benderson Park.” In addition, The Exchange awarded a $5,000 Elizabeth Lindsay Arts in Education grant to support the Hermitage’s “A Gift of Education to Sarasota County Schools” project that brings the world’s leading artists to Sarasota County public schools.

Grants from the Amphion Foundation, Aaron Copland Fund for Music, and the Plantation Community Foundation will provide support for the organization’s music-focused initiatives, as well as specialized program equipment for events on the Hermitage Beach and other locations. 

The Hermitage is widely recognized for its international artist residency program and its rapidly expanding community programming, introducing Gulf Coast audiences to some of the world’s leading artists across all disciplines. “As our programs and collaborations continue to evolve and expand, we are excited to see the impact on audiences throughout our region and beyond,” says Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg. “We are deeply appreciative for these generous grants from both new and longtime supporters, all of which will provide invaluable support and resources to the diverse and accomplished Hermitage artists who are making a meaningful impact in our community and with audiences around the world.”

Hermitage Presented Two New Commissions from  Madeleine George and Shariffa Ali in NYC  

The Hermitage Artist Retreat (Andy Sandberg, Artistic Director and CEO), today released photos from the premiere presentations of newly commissioned works by Madeleine George and Shariffa Ali. George and Ali, the first two recipients of the $35,000 Hermitage Major Theater Award (HMTA), had readings of their newly commissioned plays in New York at Off-Broadway’s MCC Theater just before Thanksgiving. Developed while in residence at the Hermitage in Sarasota County, Florida, these two new works are wholly original and coming to fruition less than two years after Madeleine George and Shariffa Ali learned of their selection for this distinguished national prize.

The Hermitage Major Theater Award, presented by the Hermitage Artist Retreat and made possible with generous support from the Kutya Major Foundation, recognizes a playwright or theater artist with a commission of $35,000 to create an original full-length work for the stage, as well as providing an extended residency at the Hermitage’s beachfront campus Sarasota County, Florida, plus the chance to present the inaugural workshop presentation of the newly created play in a major arts capital such as New York, London, or Chicago.

Pulitzer Prize finalist and playwright Madeleine George,currently a writer on the hit Hulu series “Only Murders in the Building,” was selected as the first winner of the HMTA by an Award Committee comprised ofLeigh Silverman, Liesl Tommy, and Doug Wright. George presented the first full-length reading of her new play The Sore Loser to an invitation-only audience on Friday, November 17. The Sore Loser is a Faustian comedy set in a bowling alley. It’s a play about power, domination, and the death of the patriarchy – as told through a small-town bowling tournament. Casting for The Sore Loser included stage and screen talentsAdam Chanler-Berat (Next to Normal, “Gossip Girl”), Lynda Gravatt (The Bounty Hunter, Delivery Man), Allison Guinn (On the Town, “Only Murders in the Building”), Greg Hildreth (Frozen, Maestro), James Jackson Jr. (A Strange Loop, White Girl in Danger), Matthew Maher (Gone Baby Gone, Captain Marvel), T Mitsock (“Becoming Eve”), Shannon Tyo (The Compeuppance, “30 Rock”), and Joel Van Liew (“FBI”, Limitless). The reading was directed by Mack Brown.

Theater-maker and director Shariffa Ali was selected as the second recipient of the Hermitage Major Theater Award by Lynn Nottage, David Henry Hwang, and Regina Taylor. Ali shared an in-process presentation of her newly devised work Hero for an invitation-only audience on Monday, November 20, also at MCC Theater. Ali and two of her collaborators, Joanna Evans and Jason Maina, provided an overview and excerpts from this heartwarming and inspiring new play with music, set in a small South African town and inspired by the true story of Shariffa’s longtime friend and collaborator Vuyo Sotashe. 

The Hermitage Major Theater Award was established in 2021 to recognize a playwright or theater artist with a substantial commission to create a new, original, and impactful piece of theater. This national jury-selected award, established by the Hermitage with generous support from Flora Major and the Kutya Major Foundation, offers one of the largest unrestricted nonprofit theater commissions in the country. George and Ali have each received a cash prize of $35,000, as well as a residency at the Hermitage, plus developmental and financial support for these developmental readings in New York. The prize is intended to bridge the connection between the Hermitage (Sarasota County, Florida), where the commission is born, and other leading arts and culture centers around the world, including New York, London, Chicago, and notable arts capitals where great theater is frequently developed and presented. 

Nov. 30 “Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens” to Discuss State of the Arts

The Hermitage Artist Retreat announced today that a distinguished panel of arts and cultural leaders will discuss the myriad of challenges facing the arts in Florida and our country in the newly announced program “Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens: State of the Arts in Florida.” This event will take place on Thursday, November 30th at 5pm at Selby Gardens’ Historic Spanish Point campus. Hermitage Curatorial Council member Nataki Garrett, who recently served as Artistic Director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, andTony and Olivier Award-winning producer Tom Kirdahy, a Sarasota resident and friend of the Hermitage, will participate in a discussion with the President of the Manasota Chapter of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), David Wilkins, in a conversation moderated by Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg. 

No matter where you get your news, it is a given reality that America – and Florida, in particular – feels more divided now than at nearly any point in our history. How does this impact the artists who call Florida home or who come here to make work? What challenges does this create for our state’s cultural economy? These esteemed professionals will share their experiences and thoughts in a candid and wide-ranging discussion on the arts community and the artists creating work in the state of Florida and beyond.  

As a leading theater director and administrator who recently served as Artistic Director of the prestigious Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Nataki Garrett has first-hand experience of the challenges arts leaders face in a polarized nation. Tony Award-winning producer Tom Kirdahy,active in both the Florida community and the national arts scene, has shared his candid views on the state of the arts with the Hermitage in previous programs. Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg will moderate the conversation, which will also feature the insight of David Wilkins from Manasota ASALH. Audience members will have the opportunity to engage with these local, national, and international experts in a frank and open discussion on the state of the arts in Florida and beyond.

“Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens” is now in its fourth year as part of the Hermitage’s 2023-2024 season. The outdoor series — a continuing collaboration between the Hermitage Artist Retreat and Marie Selby Botanical Gardens — features performances, conversations, and explorations of works-in-progress by Hermitage artists-in-residence and alumni. 

“We are excited to now be in our fourth season of ‘Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens,’” says Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg. “It has been a joy to bring rich arts and cultural experiences to both of Selby Gardens’ beautiful waterfront locations, giving audiences the chance to experience one-of-a-kind performances and ‘sneak peeks’ into the creative process of leading national artists. We know this event with Nataki, Tom, and David will be a particularly compelling and candid conversation that’s relevant to all who appreciate and value the arts in our community.” 

These outdoor events are one part of many “Hermitage North” programs and collaborations planned throughout the season, spanning Sarasota County and the surrounding region. The programs feature industry-leading playwrights, visual artists, musicians, poets, choreographers, and more — all free to the members of our community with a $5/person registration fee. 

Matīss Čudars Wins the 2023 Hermitage Prize in Composition at Aspen Music Festival & School

The Hermitage Artist Retreat and the Aspen Music Festival and School (Aspen, Colorado) announce that Matīss Čudars, a composition student at AMFS, has been selected as the recipient of the 2023 Hermitage Prize in Composition.Čudars is the tenth recipient of this annual award, which includes a residency at the Hermitage, along with a $1,000 cash stipend. Čudars was selected by a jury that includes multiple Grammy Award winner Robert Spano, Music Director of the AMFS and the Atlanta Symphony and a past member of the Hermitage Curatorial Council; award-winning composer and celebrated arts administrator Alan Fletcher, AMFS President and CEO; and the composition faculty of the AMFS, including Grammy Award-winning Hermitage Fellow Christopher Theofanidis.

Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg presented the award to Čudars at the Aspen Music Festival’s Benedict Tent, alongside Fletcher, Theofanidis, and award-winning composer and Hermitage Fellow Nico Muhly. This unique initiative, launched in 2013 and now celebrating its tenth anniversary, reflects an invaluable partnership between AMFS and the Hermitage, designed to champion new and original works and to recognize exceptional talent in the field of contemporary classical music. To celebrate the tenth anniversary of this award, the Hermitage and AMFS produced a retrospective video featuring exclusive interviews with past winners, distinguished AMFS faculty members, and renowned thought leaders in music, which can be seen here (URL link below). The idea for the prize was first conceived when Robert Spano was in residence at the Hermitage and shared with his colleagues in Aspen how beneficial the retreat had been for him and his work. The Hermitage Prize in Composition was created to offer the same experience to young, talented composers just beginning their professional careers.

“We are thrilled to recognize Matīss Čudarsas the winner of the tenth Hermitage Prize. He is a brilliant young composer and musician, and a welcome addition to the Hermitage family,” noted Sandberg. “We were delighted that the weekend’s festivities could be celebrated alongside fellow Hermitage alumni including Robert Spano, Nico Muhly, and Christopher Theofanidis.” Sandberg adds that the Hermitage Prize at AMFS is the only student residency awarded each year; all other Hermitage Fellows are accomplished working professionals and leaders in their field, selected by the Hermitage’s National Curatorial Council. “This provides the recipient of the annual Hermitage Prize in Composition the opportunity to share this unmatched Hermitage experience with leading artists from all around the world.” 

“I am deeply honored and filled with gratitude for being bestowed the prestigious Hermitage Prize in Composition,” added Čudars after learning the news of his recognition. “With fifty thousand creative ideas for new compositions, projects, and albums swirling within my mind, coupled with new commissions awaiting my attention, this prize has arrived at the most opportune moment. The nurturing embrace of the Hermitage, coupled with the breathtaking expanse of the Manasota Key landscape, presents an environment that promises to amplify my artistic endeavors. Engaging with fellow artists at the Hermitage and relishing in the privilege of uninterrupted concentration, I am excited to bring a multitude of these creative ideas to life.”

Matīss Čudars is a Latvian composer and guitar player. Čudars draws upon a diverse musical upbringing encompassing math-rock, jazz, classical music, and avant-garde improv. Matīss earned his master’s degree in music from Yale in 2023. He is a graduate of Amsterdam Conservatory with a bachelor’s in music for jazz guitar. With an insatiable creative drive, he transcends genres and aesthetics, constantly exploring new musical frontiers. Upcoming projects include the newly commissioned works for the 2023 Aspen Music Festival as a Composition Fellow and a new Helēna Sorokina work for soprano voice and bass clarinet. In 2024, Matīss will create a new opera for 16 voices, guitar and percussion for the Latvian Radio Choir as well as a new piano work for the Latvian Symphony Orchestra Chamber Group. 

Hermitage 2023 STARs Announced

Five Florida public school arts teachers will spend part of their summer on Manasota Key while working on their own artistic endeavors. They are the winners of the 2023 State Teachers Artist Residency program (STARs) – now in its thirteenth year – presented by the Hermitage Artist Retreat in partnership with theFlorida Alliance for Arts Education (FAAE). This year’s recipients were selected from dozens of impressive applicants, and the five teachers selected from across the State of Florida include three visual arts educators working in different mediums, a music teacher and electronic musician, and an artist/educator working across disciplines to illustrate an original novel. The five receive a residency at the nationally renowned Hermitage Artist Retreat, where they can focus on their own work as creative artists. These five teaching artists will present a family-friendly showcase of their work on Friday, July 14th starting at 1pm. This special event will be held outdoors at the Hermitage’s beachfront campus on Manasota Key; entrance at 6660 Manasota Key Road, Englewood, FL 34223. The program is presented in partnership with the Englewood YMCA. In addition to the students and families attending from the YMCA, this Hermitage community program will be free and open to the public with a $5/person registration fee. Due to capacity limitations and safety protocols, registration is required at HermitageArtistRetreat.org.

The five recipients of this honor, selected among dozens of impressive applicants, include: Jeffrey Brown, a keyboard instructor at Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando (Orange County); James Finch, a visual arts instructor at West Shore Jr/Sr High School in Melbourne (Brevard County); Katherine Gebhart, an art instructor at Jerry Thomas Elementary School in Jupiter (Palm Beach County); Omar Otero, a photography and painting instructor at Hagerty High School in Oviedo (Seminole County); and Rachael Pongetti, a visual art instructor at the Escambia High School in Pensacola (Escambia County).

Jeff Brown teaches keyboard at Dr. Phillips High School in Orange County, FL, and serves as Math Interventionist at Chancery Charter HS. His degree is in Industrial Engineering from Northwestern University. He was senior consultant for Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) before working in music. As a musician, he has held music director, choir director and educator positions, including Teaching Artist in Residence at Santa Fe Opera. Awards include two Helene Wurlitzer Foundation residency grants, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts Residency Award, Banff Centre IWJCM selection, National Hispanic Cultural Center/McCune Foundation Fellowship, and Florida Alliance for Arts Education (Arts Integration Guided Residency). His compositions and performances have been presented in Canada, Europe, South America, and the U.S. He teaches in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

James Finch graduated from the University of Central Florida with a BA degree in Art and specialized in Graphic Design. He has won two international design awards, multiple state awards, and numerous advertising (Addy) awards. Mr. Finch continues to work in the commercial art field as a designer and enjoys drawing and painting in his spare time. He currently teaches at West Shore Jr./Sr. High in the Computer Graphics programs. Many of his students have gone on to further their education and have careers in the arts ranging from animators, creative directors, motion graphic/social media arts, architecture, industrial designers, illustrators, and more. Mr. Finch was a member of the Space Coast Advertising Federation, FAEA and BAEA.

Katherine Gebhart is a life-long visual artist who also creates theater, writing, and poetry. For over 10 years, she has been teaching within the school district of Palm Beach County, where she encourages her students to be their best by striving for innovation and not perfection and to use their most imaginative ideas, incorporating both learned techniques and what makes them personally unique. When she is not in the studio, she is actively engaged in the culture of Jerry Thomas Elementary through many avenues, not the least of which is musical theater. 

Omar Otero received his Bachelor of Arts in Photography and Digital Imaging from the Ringling College of Art and Design, one of the most highly recognized and innovative arts colleges in the United States. He has had the privilege to teach photography, sculpture, drawing, and painting nationally and in Central America. After graduating, Otero worked side by side with actors and crew in New York television, including the daytime dramas All My Children, One Life to Live, Guiding Light, and As the World Turns. He has won multiple national honors, including the Ava Video Award. He started his art teaching career as a visual arts instructor at IQ Village School of the Arts in Orlando, Florida. Following that, he started teaching in Tegucigalpa, Honduras during the school year and also at his alma mater, Ringling College of Art and Design, during the summer.

Rachael Pongetti is a Pensacola-based teacher, photographer, and multimedia artist who focuses on the visual culture of her surrounding community and the theme of impermanence. She is the author of Uncovering the Layers, The Pensacola Graffiti Bridge Project, and recipient of the National Book Award for Communication for Freedom of Speech, from the Freedom Foundation in Valley Forge. Her work has appeared in various publications, exhibitions, and private collections. After facing the challenges of teaching through the pandemic, Rachael has turned to more analog-based art forms such as mixed media, collage, and assemblage art.

Since the start of the Hermitage STARs program in 2011, 62 teachers have represented over 30 Florida counties. 

Hermitage Announces Second Year of “Cross Arts Collaborative”

The Hermitage Artist Retreat is pleased to announce the continuation of the Sarasota Cross Arts Collaborative, made possibleonce morewith generous support from the Koski Family Foundation. This initiative is designed to give frequent performers and company members from leading Sarasota arts organizations a chance to expand their artistic practice from ‘performer’ to ‘creator.’

As with the inaugural year, the Hermitage is awarding Cross Arts Collaborative residencies to artists from two selected partner institutions. This program is designed to inspire and encourage generative work created by some of the best and brightest in our vibrant performing arts community. Artists are invited by their respective organizations to submit proposals for consideration; finalists are then submitted to the Hermitage for consideration, and recipients are selected in consultation with current or past members of the Hermitage National Curatorial Council. Recipients will receive two weeks of uninterrupted time at the Hermitage Artist Retreat this summer to develop a new generative project, and the work will then be shared with the Sarasota community in a free public program this fall. 

In the second season of the Hermitage’s Cross Arts Collaborative, this distinguished honor has been awarded to Lizzie Hagstedt, a musician, soundscape designer, and frequent collaborator with Asolo Repertory Theatre, and Jessica Obiedzinski, a dancer and longstanding company member of Sarasota Contemporary Dance. 

While the Hermitage’s nationally renowned residency program brings leading artists from across the country and around the world to create work on its beachfront Manasota Key campus, the Hermitage also seeks to enrich the incredible and growing arts scene in Sarasota, as showcased by performing arts institutions such as Sarasota Contemporary Dance and Asolo Repertory Theatre. 

“We want to offer this one-of-a-kind opportunity to some of the leading artists in Sarasota, by creating space for a talented performer to focus on being a generative artist,”said Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg. “We know there are actors, dancers, musicians, and performing artists working amidst our circle of frequent collaborators who have passion projects waiting in the wings. This could be an actor writing a play between production contracts, a violinist composing a symphony after rehearsals, a dancer yearning to expand into the choreographer’s space – or someone looking to work across an entirely new genre. This residency is designed for an artist who is hungry to expand their creative practice and explore a new ‘hat’ within the arts and entertainment space.” Sandberg added that the Cross Arts Collaborative initiative would not be possible without the generous support of the Koski Family Foundation, longtime supporters and champions of the Hermitage.

“We are thrilled to be continuing our longstanding collaboration with the Hermitage,” said Peter Rothstein, incoming Artistic Director of Asolo Repertory Theatre. “This Cross Arts Collaborative is a meaningful initiative providing an opportunity to support the artists who consider the Asolo a creative home.”Lizzie Hagstedt, the selected artist from Asolo Repertory Theatre, may be familiar to Sarasota audiences from her original compositions in Lifespan of a Fact, as well as an early sampling of her original musical “Sophie Blanchard’s High-Flyin’ Rock’n’Roll Extravaganza,” featured online in 2021 as part of the Asolo’s “Ground Floor Series: Making Musicals.” As part of her time at the Hermitage, Hagstedt plans to further develop the full version of this show, an all-femme actor/musician story about the life and pyrotechnic death of 19th-Century aeronaut Sophie Blanchard.

Jessica Obiedzinski, the selected performer from Sarasota Contemporary Dance (SCD), will use the time to develop and choreograph a solo dance piece focused on the physical impact trauma has on the body. “SCD is honored to be a part of the Hermitage Cross Arts Collaborative, offering a unique opportunity to create for our very own company member,” noted SCD Founder and Artistic Director Leymis Wilmott. “Jessica’s persistence and dedication to her dance and healing practice is a daily-lived experience. As a dance maker, she continues to be interested in the effects of emotional trauma and how that is embodied. This opportunity is encouraging Jessica to go deeper into her research and choreographic practice, and I am so excited for her and where this launchpad experience might propel her work next.”

After their time in residence, the Hermitage will collaborate with the selected partner institutions to bring a public program to the Sarasota community to highlight Jessica and Lizzie’s work. Details about this year’s event will be announced at a later date. 

Visual Artist Sandy Rodriguez and Dancer-Choreographer Rennie Harris Honored at the 2023 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner

The annual Hermitage Greenfield Prize (HGP) Dinner on Sunday, April 16th honored dancer-choreographer Lorenzo ‘Rennie’ Harris and visual artist Sandy Rodriguez. This was the culmination of a weekend-long celebration of events, hosted by the Hermitage Artist Retreat (Andy Sandberg, Artistic Director and CEO) in partnership with the Greenfield Foundation. To commemorate the 20th anniversary season of the Hermitage and the milestone 15th year of this distinguished national honor, the Hermitage presented two awards – one in the discipline of visual art and a special award in the field of dance and choreography. The evening of celebration was presented outdoors by the Ringling Museum’s Ca’ d’Zan and featured inspiring performances from Broadway star and Lucille Lortel Award winner Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer (Beetlejuice), hip-hop dancer Phil S. Cuttino Jr. (Rennie Harris Puremovement), violinist Samantha Bennett (EnsembleNEWSRQ), and special appearances from past Hermitage Greenfield Prize winners Sanford Biggers (2010, visual art), and Angélica Negrón (2022, music). The annual gala raised more than $240,000 in support of the Hermitage’s mission in addition to the Greenfield Foundation’s ongoing annual gift of $150,000. The festive evening was chaired by Sherry and Tom Koski, with honorary co-chairs Steven High (The Ringling Museum), Nate Jacobs (Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe), Virginia Shearer (Sarasota Art Museum), and Iain Webb (Sarasota Ballet). Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg served as master of ceremonies and announced that the Ringling Museum will be collaborating with the Hermitage as the presenting partner for the premieres of both Sandy Rodriguez and Rennie Harris’ commissions in Sarasota in 2025. Harris and Rodriguez each receive a $30,000 commission, along with an extended residency at the Hermitage Artist Retreat.

The evening opened with a performance from Philadelphia-based dancer Phil S. Cuttino Jr., a core member of Rennie Harris Puremovement, who kicked off the event with a tribute to hip-hop and street dance. Sandberg took the stage as master of ceremonies, and introduced a video documenting fifteen years of Hermitage Greenfield Prize recipients, jurors, and presenting partners. Broadway star, Lucille Lortel Award winner, and Drama Desk Award nominee Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer enthralled the crowd with a performance of Stephen Sondheim’s “Finishing the Hat,” from the musical Sunday in the Park with George, as a tribute to the creation of art.The program continued with Anne Patterson, one of this year’s visual art jurors and a Hermitage alumna artist, introducing a video of Sandy Rodriguez’s work and process. Two of this year’s dance jurors, Michael Novak (Artistic Director of Paul Taylor Dance Company)and Charmaine Warren (Founder and Artistic Director of “Black Dance Stories”) introduced selections of Rennie Harris’ extraordinary body of work. 2022 HGP recipient Angélica Negrón thanked the Hermitage for this opportunity and introduced her original violin and electronic music piece, “A través del manto luminoso.” The piece was performed by ensembleNewSRQ’s Samantha Bennett; enSRQ will be serving as the presenting partner for Negrón’s HGP commission, which will have its premiere in April of 2024 (further details to be announced).The evening continued with a surprise appearance from internationally renowned artist Sanford Biggers, the first-ever Hermitage Greenfield Prize winner in visual art (2010) and a current member of the Hermitage Curatorial Council. Biggers shared what the Hermitage and this award meant to his artistic practice, how the impact of this opportunity shaped the trajectory of his impressive career, and how important it is to pay that forward. To close out the event and celebrate the perfect weather, Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer returned to the stage for a showstopping rendition of “Don’t Rain on My Parade.”

“This was an extraordinary evening and a joyful celebration of this truly one-of-a-kind prize,” said Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg. “It was an honor to celebrate Rennie Harris, Sandy Rodriguez, and their immeasurable talents, and we can’t wait to introduce their new works of art and dance to our Gulf Coast community. It was thrilling as well to hear live performances from Leslie Kritzer and an original piece by Angélica Negrón on the beautiful grounds of the Ringling Museum, along with inspiring remarks from the one and only Sanford Biggers. We are so grateful to the Greenfield Foundation, the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, and all of our sponsors and donors for their belief in our mission and the support of new 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 served as the lead community sponsor for this year’s festivities.

Sandy Rodriguez plans to use her commission to create a site-specific panoramic exhibition – the centerpiece of which will be a new large-scale map that depicts the southeastern topography and coastline marked by stories of resistance from the colonial period to the present. Created with hand-processed local mineral pigment watercolors on amate paper with an accompanying audio installation, the effect will be reminiscent of a 19th-century style panorama in the round. This is a further exploration of a series of exhibitions for which she has been celebrated, which maps the ongoing cycles of violence on communities of color by blending historical and recent events; this will be her first in this region. 

Rennie Harris’ intended commission will focus on a new dance piece titled “Losing My Religion,” a personal reflection on his own journey that weaves in thoughts on the world’s collective dilemmas. Harris is known for challenging what has come to be expected of street dance and hip-hop culture and the degenerative social norms and beliefs that ground the struggles of our time. As part of the work, he plans to incorporate a reimagining of his renowned solo “Endangered Species,” an autobiographical work recounting his experience of being chased and shot down in Kingston, Jamaica while touring as a U.S. ambassador for President Reagan’s ‘American Embassy Tour.’ The solo’s inclusion in the work completes a story of systemic racism and revolt, shifting away from what was to what is and what can be.

Angélica Negrón’s commission seeks to engage the senses and encourage listeners to resist distractions with a composed work timed with the setting sun and inspired partly by the sun’s low-frequency sounds as captured by scientists. Her composition of strings and electronic music will feature slowly evolving musical textures, shifting patterns, natural sounds, and changes in scale and dimension that play with the unfolding gradations of light and color on the surrounding land, water, and sky – serving as a gentle reminder to surrender to moments of inspiration.