6660 Manasota Key Rd.
Englewood 34223
“Natural Inspiration” with Hermitage Fellow Ni’Ja Whitson and Hermitage Alum Ronán Noone
Presented in partnership with Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast
Friday, January 28, 5pm
Hermitage Beach, (Entrance at 6660 Manasota Key Rd., Englewood 34223)
Ni’Ja Whitson’s Hermitage Residency generously sponsored by Ellen Berman and Roy Cohen
Register here.
Registration is required. $5 per person.
Hermitage Fellow Ni’Ja Whitson returns to the beach, exploring a theme familiar to artists and nature-lovers alike — moments of inspiration. Ni’Ja explores how nature and the environment influence their practice, sharing excerpts of works-in-progress inspired by the Hermitage’s Manasota Key campus and Florida wildlife. Special Guest and Hermitage Alum, Ronán Noone joins the conversation to share inspirations for — and selections from — his play The Smuggler, currently running at Urbanite Theater.
Ni’Ja Whitson is a queer nonbinary trans/mogrifier multidisciplinary artist and futurist, United States Artist Fellow, Hermitage Fellow, Creative Capital and two-time “Bessie” Awardee who has been referred to as “majestic” by The New York Times. Whitson engages transdisciplinarity through a critical intersection of the sacred and conceptual in Black, Queer, and Transembodiedness. They are a 2021¬–2023 New York Live Arts Live Feed Artist in Residence, 18th St. Artist in Residence in partnership with Fathomers (Los Angeles), featured choreographer of the 2018 CCA Biennial, 2018–2020 Urban Bush Women Choreographic Center Fellow, and invited presenter at the 2019 international Tanzkongress festival. Recent commissions include the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC), Yale Dance Lab, Danspace Project at St. Marks, Abrons Arts Center, and ICA Philadelphia. Whitson is a sought-after speaker, presenter, and masterclass facilitator whose offerings have been shared at: Wesleyan University, Princeton, Cornell, LAX Festival, Movement Research, Dance NYC symposium, a 2020 keynote of the Collegium for African Diasporic Dance conference, and UNESCO. Writing credits include “Critical Black Futures: Speculative Theories and Explorations,” Dance Research Journal, and an upcoming anthology on Lovecraft Country. A complete bio can be found on their website: www.NiJaWhitson.com