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.