Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens 2025-2026 Dates |

The Hermitage Artist Retreat’s popular series, “Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens,” continues into its sixth year as part of the Hermitage’s upcoming 2025-2026 season. The outdoor series — a celebrated collaboration between the Hermitage Artist Retreat and Marie Selby Botanical Gardens — features performances and explorations of works-in-progress by Hermitage artists-in-residence and alumni. “Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens” events are currently scheduled to take place at Selby Gardens’ Downtown Sarasota campus and the Historic Spanish Point campus in Osprey.

Newly announced dates for this sixth season of “Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens” include:

Thursday, October 23, 2025, Downtown Sarasota campus
Thursday November 20, 2025, Historic Spanish Point campus
Thursday January 29, 2026, Downtown Sarasota campus
Thursday February 19, 2026, Historic Spanish Point campus
Thursday, March 5, 2026, Downtown Sarasota campus
Thursday, May 7, 2026, Downtown Sarasota campus

Start times vary with sunset and will be announced when each event opens for registration. Admission for these events has no ticket cost, though availability is subject to capacity limitations at each venue; advance registration is required ($5/person) at HermitageArtistRetreat.org.

Each program will feature a celebrated Hermitage artist (or artists) to be announced. Last year’s “Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens” spotlighted the works and talents of 2023 Hermitage Greenfield Prize finalist Britton Smith, internationally celebrated flutist Claire Chase, world-renowned pianist and composer Vijay Iyer, Tony Award-nominated Broadway performer Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, West End composer and lyricist Mark Sonnenblick, acclaimed singer-songwriter Julian Hornik, and 2025 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Winner and sound artist Rucyl Mills.

Previous seasons of “Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens” have included Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Michael R. Jackson; celebrated mime and storyteller Bill Bowers; internationally renowned composer and singer Kavita Shah; award-winning Chicago playwright Terry Guest; Kleban Prize winner César Alvarez, world-renowned violinist and Beyoncé collaborator Lady Jess; Hermitage Curatorial Council member Nataki Garrett; acclaimed classical harpist Ashley Jackson; interdisciplinary performance artist Ni’Ja Whitson; opera singer and Sarasota native Thea Lobo; composer Sofía Rocha, winner of the Hermitage Prize in Composition at the Aspen Music Festival; Tony Award-winning Broadway producer Tom Kirdahy; Hermitage Major Theater Award Winner Shariffa Ali; celebrated cellist Karen Patterson; award-winning flutist Emi Ferguson with classical composer Jim Stephenson; and more.

“This sixth season of ‘Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens’ promises to be another memorable one,” says Hermitage Artistic Director and CEO Andy Sandberg. “Last year’s programming was instrumental in lifting our community’s spirits after the impacts of an unprecedented hurricane season. The forthcoming lineup will once again introduce audiences to some of the most dynamic artists and performers of our generation – six magical evenings set against the backdrop of these beautiful bayfront sanctuaries. This popular series has been a joyous collaboration with our friends at Selby Gardens, and we look forward welcoming new and returning audiences to experience a ‘sneak peek’ into the creative process of our leading artists, writers, and performers.

“We are so excited to celebrate six years of this wonderful collaboration with the Hermitage Artist Retreat,” says Selby Gardens President & CEO Jennifer Rominiecki. “Welcoming world-class Hermitage artists to our expanded bayfront sanctuary at our Downtown Sarasota and vibrant Historic Spanish Point campuses is something we look forward to each year. Treating Gulf Coast patrons to these special programs has been such a joy, and we are thrilled that that the ‘Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens’ series continues to flourish.”

These outdoor events are one part of many ongoing programs and collaborations planned throughout the season, spanning Sarasota County, Charlotte County, Manatee County, Lee 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.

Coming Up Next…

Nov

Sat

Artful Lobster @ Hermitage Artist Retreat

Tickets

Nov 8 @ 11:30 am – 2:00 pm

The highly popular Artful Lobster is our signature fundraising event. This year, the event is expected to take place at the Hermitage’s historic beachfront campus. With a luscious lobster feast catered by Michael’s On East and live entertainment featuring Hermitage Fellows, the Artful Lobster is anticipated as the season kick-off for many across our community.

To purchase sponsorships/tickets, please contact:
Development@HermitageArtistRetreat.org
(941) 475-2098, Ext. 2.

The Artful Lobster raises valuable funds for the Hermitage’s nationally renowned artist residency program, supporting the creative process of artists from around the world in the fields of music, theater, visual art, literature, dance, and more.

Nov

Thu

Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens: “An Evening of Scenes & Songs” @ Historic Spanish Point

Tickets

Nov 20 @ 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm

Hermitage Sunsets @ Selby Gardens: “An Evening of Scenes & Songs,” featuring Hermitage-Roundabout Fellow Migdalia Cruz and Hermitage Fellow Lauren Marcus, Thursday, November 20 @ 5:30pm: Two stand-out theater dynamos – one hailed as a “legacy” (DGF Legacy Playwrights Initiative) and one as a “rock star” (BroadwayWorld) – share excerpts from their original work in this memorable sunset performance. Migdalia Cruz has earned her claim to “legacy” through a prolific playwriting career that spans over 40 years and 60 works that embody her expansive imagination and explorations of love, grief, and liminal space. Her plays have been produced across 150 venues in 40 cities in 12 countries. Lauren Marcus is a beloved “rock star” of the New York theater scene – actor, writer, and singer-songwriter are all hats she comfortably and regularly shifts between. She is known for her Broadway run in the original cast of Be More Chill and recently brought the house down in the Off-Broadway run of The Jonathan Larson Project. In addition to her acting credits, Lauren is developing several musical projects and working on her first full-length album. Lauren Marcus’ Hermitage Residency generously sponsored by Carol White Bold & Larry Bold. Presented in partnership with Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. Estimated running time: 60-70 minutes. Selby Gardens Historic Spanish Point Campus (Osprey), 401 North Tamiami Trail, Osprey, FL 34229.

Dec

Wed

Hermitage Sunsets @ Benderson Park: “Cross Arts Collaborative” @ Nathan Benderson Park

Tickets

Dec 3 @ 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm

Hermitage Sunsets @ Benderson Park: “The Hermitage Cross Arts Collaborative,” featuring Shawn Allison and Tom Lubben, Wednesday, December 3 @ 5pm: The Hermitage Cross Arts Collaborative is an annual residency program focused on supporting the incredible talent of artists frequently featured on Sarasota stages. Now in its fourth year, we celebrate two singular artists who are injecting life into every note on the page. This year’s recipients are performers and musicians Shawn Allison (ensembleNew SRQ) and Tom Lubben (Key Chorale). From very different angles, each of these artists makes music with a unique creative force. Hear selections from these two talented musical artists as they share excerpts of work created while in residence at the Hermitage. The Hermitage Cross Arts Collaborative initiative is made possible with generous support from the Koski Family Foundation. Presented in partnership with Nathan Benderson Park Conservancy, ensembleNewSRQ, and Key Chorale. Estimated running time: 60-70 minutes; Nathan Benderson Park (Sarasota/Bradenton), 5851 Nathan Benderson Circle, Sarasota, FL 34235.

Dec

Thu

The Fantasy of Reality @ Bookstore1 Sarasota

Tickets

Dec 18 @ 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Hermitage Fellow Joseph Earl Thomas is a writer who straddles form, from memoir and nonfiction to fiction and poetry. He is celebrated for his distinctive style that often pushes expectations, and his work often plays with the boundaries between fantasy and reality. His memoir Sink was hailed as “extraordinary” by The New York Times. Past Hermitage Fellow and National Book Award winner Justin Torres said Thomas’ novel God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer “reads like direct communication from the soul.” Join us as this acclaimed author discusses and shares excerpts from new and published work. Joseph Earl Thomas’ Hermitage Residency generously sponsored by Georgia Court. Presented in partnership with Bookstore1.

Joseph Earl Thomas is the author of Sink, a memoir, longlisted for the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award and shortlisted for the Patrick Saroyan International Writing Prize; the novel God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer, longlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Literary Excellence, finalist for the LA Times Art Seidenbaum Award, winner of the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize; and the forthcoming story collection Leviathan Beach. His prose and poetry has been published or is forthcoming in The Kenyon Review, The Paris Review, The Verge, Harper’s, Virginia Quarterly Review, Vanity Fair, The Yale Review, The Massachusetts Review, and Dilettante Army. His honors include the Chautauqua Janus Prize, The Anisfield-Wolf Fellowship in Writing and Publishing, and fellowships from Kimbilio, VONA, Tin House, and Bread Loaf. A graduate of Notre Dame’s MFA program in prose, he earned his PhD in English from the University of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the writing faculty at Sarah Lawrence College as well as low residency MFA programs at Holy Family and Randolph Colleges, and teaches courses in Black Studies, Poetics, Video Games, Queer Theory and more at the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research.

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