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Do You Remember Our Very First STARs? We Sure Do!

So just how does the STAR program make a difference in these artist/teachers lives? I went back to our first STARs, a wonderful group of teaching artists, several of whom I am happy to call my friends, who came to the Hermitage in 2011, not knowing what to expect from this surprise gift of time and space. I had been here three years and never saw a group of artists bond so tightly. Looking back, they provide insight as to what is so special about the STAR program and how five years later, how much their time here mattered.

So just how does the STAR program make a difference in these artist/teachers lives? I went back to our first STARs, a wonderful group of teaching artists, several of whom I am happy to call my friends, who came to the Hermitage in 2011, not knowing what to expect from this surprise gift of time and space. I had been here three years and never saw a group of artists bond so tightly. Looking back, they provide insight as to what is so special about the STAR program and how five years later, how much their time here mattered.

Andrea Huffman: “After breakfast every day, I looked forward to walking to the studio, opening the doors to let the light in and just focusing on the creative process. It was a pivotal experience for me in accepting myself as a working, professional artist. In a practical way, I have sketches and photos from the Hermitage that I continue to reference in my artwork. In a deeper way, it is a constant reminder to treasure the moments I have to create art, and suck the life out of those moments (to very loosely paraphrase Thoreau). It’s also a reminder of how little I needed to be content…. Oh to recapture that perspective again.

Patricia Cummins, Artist: “The best memories of my residency at The Hermitage reflect on the personal connections made with Manasota Key and the other STARs. There was always something new and exciting to share! I have served a dozen National Park residencies, receiving recognition as an artist. The STAR residency was the FIRST and ONLY that recognized me as an artist as well as an arts educator. Never before has that occurred in my 40-year career as an art teacher. Being recognized by the Hermitage and the FAAE was one of the highlights of my career.”

Alan Sincic, Writer; “What I remember most fondly about our time together was the informal nightly ritual of gathering in the main house to compare notes, socialize, gossip, debate, share the progress we were making, joke around, and generally make fools of ourselves. We were like a little family of expatriates, gathered together on a secret island making secret plans for the future.”

Melissa Pranke, Writer: “There are no standardized tests to pass; no observations or personal development plans to construct. You experience the chance to be creative and to create solely for the purpose of whatever you wish to explore without any strings attached. I fell in love with the philosophy and natural beauty of this place and met people who truly value and cherish the creative spirit. No one will ever bond the way the first of us did. The Hermitage experience is life changing.”

Dear Friends of the Hermitage

If you missed the March 16th meeting of the Friends, this message may be for you. After serving as the Coordinator of the Friends of the Hermitage for the past several years, I am stepping aside to make room for someone else to fill the position.

Dear Friends,

Portrait of Marianne painted by artist and Friend of the Hermitage, Jacobina Trump

If you missed the March 16th meeting of the Friends, this message may be for you. After serving as the Coordinator of the Friends of the Hermitage for the past several years, I am stepping aside to make room for someone else to fill the position.

I have enjoyed meeting all of you and working with many of you during my tenure. Thank you for all your willingness to help out when needed and for your friendship that I hope will continue to grow in the future.

Soon Mike and I will be heading north to Canada for the summer. When we return in the fall we plan to volunteer at the Hermitage as usual. I will continue to oversee the libraries in the main cottage and to serve as the Friends liaison to the Artful Lobster Committee. I also hope to organize more literary events whenever there is an appropriate writer in residence.

So exactly what does the position entail? First of all, the length of time you have been a Friend is of no concern. New Friends are as welcome as “old” Friends to step up to the plate. Being the Friends Coordinator is a great way to get to know the workings of the Hermitage, the artists, the staff and the volunteers. The Friends meet about four times a year and at most of those meetings we are treated to a special program by a Hermitage
Fellow. At this past meeting we enjoyed a fabulous program by Kurt Gohde and Kremena Todorova. Just another perk of being a Friend.

Coordinator responsibilities include being an ambassador for the Hermitage as in networking with the community and spreading the word. Greeting returning Friends at meetings and events and welcoming new and potential volunteers is important to keeping the Friends strong and growing.

Sharyn Lonsdale, the campus director, will be work with you in setting the agenda for meetings. She will also make it incredibly easy for you to actively participate in those meetings. You will work with Sharyn to make sure volunteers are happy with their roles in the organization. In addition, you are free to pursue any project that interests you and to encourage other volunteers to do the same.

It may be that two or more of you would like to share the position of Coordinator. If you would like to volunteer your leadership, Sharyn will welcome you with open arms.

I look forward to seeing you at the last meeting of the season slated for Friday, May 6th, details to be announced later. Hopefully, Sharyn can introduce us to a new Coordinator of the Friends by then.

Happy spring!
Marianne

Bringing the Hermitage to You

I recently had the delightful opportunity to speak to a local group, The Lemon Bay Garden Club. Several of the members of this group are also Friends of the Hermitage and every year swoop in like Santa’s elves to decorate the Hermitage House for the holidays. It was a pleasure to return the favor and share the Hermitage with those members who might not be as well acquainted with us.

I recently had the delightful opportunity to speak to a local group, The Lemon Bay Garden Club. Several of the members of this group are also Friends of the Hermitage and every year swoop in like Santa’s elves to decorate the Hermitage House for the holidays. It was a pleasure to return the favor and share the Hermitage with those members who might not be as well acquainted with us.

I also just got to speak about the history of the Hermitage in front of hundreds of people at the Lemon Bay History Fest Cracker Fair, a celebration of Old Florida. Clocking in at 109-years-old, the Hermitage House certainly qualifies as “Old Florida.” And as for history, we’ve got plenty.

This event took place just a few miles from the Hermitage but to my surprise, many in the audience not only had never been to one of our free programs, but they weren’t sure where we were or what we did. They were thrilled to hear that we had renowned national and international writers, artists, composers and choreographers staying right here in Englewood and sharing their work and talent throughout the area.

The Festival also provided several volunteers the opportunity to chat up the Hermitage with others in the community. It was wonderful to watch Margaret Riley and her husband Pat, John Arnold and Maria Baskin share their enthusiasm and knowledge, along with the beautiful scrapbooks created by Jackie Parsons. Thanks to all our Friends who gave up part of their Saturday to spread the word about the Hermitage.


John Arnold, Margaret Riley and Pat Riley get ready to greet the crowd at the Lemon Bay History Fest “Cracker Fair” on Feb. 13.

Watch Your Mailbox: The Greenfield Prize Dinner is Almost Here

Invitations will be in the mail soon for this year’s Greenfield Prize Dinner, planned for Saturday, April 2 at Michael’s On East! Join us as we celebrate the Greenfield Prize mission “to
bring into the world works of art that will have a significant impact on the broad as well as the artistic culture of our society” with the presentation of the 2016 Prize in Visual Art to Coco Fusco, presently the Andrew Banks Endowed Professor of Art at the University of Florida.

Invitations will be in the mail soon for this year’s Greenfield Prize Dinner, planned for Saturday, April 2 at Michael’s On East! Join us as we celebrate the Greenfield Prize mission “to
bring into the world works of art that will have a significant impact on the broad as well as the artistic culture of our society” with the presentation of the 2016 Prize in Visual Art to Coco Fusco, presently the Andrew Banks Endowed Professor of Art at the University of Florida. As Debbi Benedict mentioned, Hank Willis Thomaswill be the keynote speaker.

Co-chairs Beverly Bartner and Renee Hamad are planning a beautiful setting and a delicious dinner with choices of roasted Chateau of Beef over Truffle Scalloped Potatoes or Pan Seared Shrimp with Capers, Mushrooms & Sun-dried Tomatoes. Yum! This promises to be an evening you won’t want to miss, so please respond promptly when you receive the invitation or make your reservations now at www.greenfieldprize.org.

We are so pleased to recognize our sponsors as of February 15th: GOLD UNDERWRITERS Beverly and Robert Bartner, Renee Hamad, Hillary Steele. SILVER SPONSORS Gulf Coast Community Foundation, Charlotte and Charles Perret, The John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Ina Schnell. BENEFACTORS Deborah and Walton Beacham, Carol White and Larry Bold, B.J. Creighton, Carole Crosby and Larry Wickless, Kay Delaney and Murray Bring, Bobbi and Will Lorry, Nancy Markle, Anna Nekoranec, Carol Phillips, Betty Schoenbaum, Judy Zuckerberg and George Kole, WUSF. EXCLUSIVE MAGAZINE SPONSOR Sarasota Magazine. Thank you!

PADDLE RAISE FOR PLANTS AND LIGHTS!
Work is underway to implement many of the projects funded by our generous supporters at the Paddle Raise at the Artful Lobster last November. The biggest and most needed improvement is the new path lighting along the shell path between the historic campus and the Palm House. Designed with the sea turtles in mind, low-voltage LED lights now make it a much safer and more enjoyable stroll. Come check it out at one of our evening programs.

Development News: What a Great Way to End 2015

We want to thank and recognize the generous donors to the annual fund since our last report in October and through January 10, 2016:
Ruby ($2,500): Carolyn Michel and Howard Millman
Sapphire ($1,000): Gene and Rita Bicknell, Ross and Jen Branca, Harold and Addie Morrison, Roberta Somach, and Harrison and Lois Steans
$250 ‐ $999: Carol Ankerson, Dennis and Trudy Archer, Anthony Bannon and Elizabeth Stewart, Pavel and Alyssia Kapic, Josephine Kixmiller, Gregory and Hannah McDaniel, Lamar and Jan Matthews, and Lisa Rubinstein
Up to $249: Rebecca Allan and Laura Kaminski, Allison Campbell, Neil and Ginny Goeppinger, John Guare, Wendy Hacker, Ermina Hahn, Marilyn Harwell, Steven and Lisa High, David and Hobey Hinchman, Pencie Huneke, Andy Maass, Neil and Sandra Malamud, Christine Mickiewicz, Chinelo Okparanta, Richard and Jacqueline Parsons, Betty Ramming, Jean Kathleen Ranallo, Christopher Still, Peter and Lee Vandermark, and Ray and Elinor Uhlhorn.

by Linda Mansperger, Development Director

THE HERMITAGE ANNUAL FUND
We want to thank and recognize the generous donors to the annual fund since our last report in October and through January 10, 2016:

Ruby ($2,500): Carolyn Michel and Howard Millman

Sapphire ($1,000): Gene and Rita Bicknell, Ross and Jen Branca, Harold and Addie Morrison, Roberta Somach, and Harrison and Lois Steans

$250 ‐ $999: Carol Ankerson, Dennis and Trudy Archer, Anthony Bannon and Elizabeth Stewart, Pavel and Alyssia Kapic, Josephine Kixmiller, Gregory and Hannah McDaniel, Lamar and Jan Matthews, and Lisa Rubinstein

Up to $249: Rebecca Allan and Laura Kaminski, Allison Campbell, Neil and Ginny Goeppinger, John Guare, Wendy Hacker, Ermina Hahn, Marilyn Harwell, Steven and Lisa High, David and Hobey Hinchman, Pencie Huneke, Andy Maass, Neil and Sandra Malamud, Christine Mickiewicz, Chinelo Okparanta, Richard and Jacqueline Parsons, Betty Ramming, Jean Kathleen Ranallo, Christopher Still, Peter and Lee Vandermark, and Ray and Elinor Uhlhorn.

Do you appreciate the work of the Hermitage but have not yet made a financial gift?? Because the Hermitage fiscal year goes until June 30, 2016, you can still make a donation to this very special Annual Fund. Just click on the DONATE NOW tab. THANKS!

PADDLE RAISE FOR PLANTS AND LIGHTS!
With the care of our native ecology part of the Hermitage mission and a new path connecting the Palm House with the historic campus, it made sense for the paddle raise at the Artful Lobster last November to focus on essential landscaping improvements. The paddle raise kicked off with a $5,000 grant from Gulf Coast Community Foundation that was quickly matched by board member Susie Samp, who realized that path lighting is essential for the safety of both artists and guests attending Hermitage programs. Board member Steve Adler and his wife Dale (who expertly prunes bushes and pulls weeds around the Hermitage) made a gift of $2,500. Several joined the cause with gifts of $1,000 – Bob and Ginger Bailey, Larry and Carol White Bold, Dan Denton, Jim and Sandy Goldman, Robert and Ann Jackson, Carolyn Michel and Howard Millman, Bea Miley, and the Paver Family Foundation. We also want to thank and recognize these additional donors with gifts ranging from $50 to $500: Caroline Andrus, Robyn Badger, Allen G. Barry, Jr., Arthur Boyce, Mark and Irene Cole, Teri Hansen and Steve Wilberding, Hees and Associates, Charles and Susan Hines, Tom and Sherry Koski, Robin Radin, Barbara Ras, Neville Thame, Ellen Dore Watson, and Ellen Wells. When the dust settled, $22,550 was raised!

The Hermitage would like to thank Michelle Hazeltine and Hazeltine Nurseries again for donating their services to develop the Hermitage landscaping plan. Watch for future project reports.

OTHER VALUED GIFTS
We thank Vicki Weil for renewing her Palm Circle membership with a $2,500 contribution; Sid and Carol Tracy and the Tracy‐Sorkin Family Fund for a $2,000 gift; David and Linda Green for a $1,000 donation; and other generous contributions from Larry and Carol White Bold, Peggy Hunt, and Honor and Malcolm MacLean.

GREENFIELD PRIZE DINNER
We know you have it on your calendar for Saturday, April 2 at 6:30 p.m. at Michael’s On East! This special event celebrates the Greenfield Prize mission “to bring into the world works of art that will have a significant impact on the broader or artistic culture,” with the presentation of the 2016 Prize.

Co‐chairs Beverly Bartner and Renee Hamad are inviting Sponsors to join them on the Greenfield Prize Committee as $5,000 ­- Gold Underwriter (Table for ten with preferred seating; thanked on invitation, program, and screen; invitation for two to the Greenfield Prize Sponsorship Reception in February, 2016; $3,000 – Silver Sponsor (Table for ten with preferred seating; thanked on invitation, program, and screen; Invitation for two to the Greenfield Prize Sponsorship Reception in February, 2016); or $1,000 – Benefactor (Preferred seating for two guests; thanked on invitation, program, and screen;Invitation for two to the Greenfield Prize Sponsorship Reception in February, 2016). For more information, call Linda at 941‐475‐2098 #2. Invitations will be mailed next month, or go to www.greenfieldprize.org to purchase tickets.

The Hermitage gratefully acknowledges the support of these Greenfield Prize Dinner Sponsors (as of January 14, 2016):

GOLD UNDERWRITER: Hillary Steele

SILVER SPONSOR: Gulf Coast Community Foundation, Charlotte and Charles Perret

BENEFACTOR: Murray Bring and Kay Delaney, Larry and Carol White Bold, Carole Crosby and Larry Wickless, Bobbi and Will Lorry, Nancy Markle, Ina Schnell, Betty Schoenbaum, Judy Zuckerberg and George Kole.
EXCLUSIVE MAGAZINE SPONSOR: Sarasota Magazine

The Announcement Reception on December 8th was graciously hosted by Margaret Pennington in her art‐filled home.. Thank you Margaret! Also, we thank Steve Seidensticker and TableSeide for donating a portion of the delicious dishes and wines that were served that evening.

Thoughts from our Guest Blogger: Nerissa Street

We’re turning our blog over to Nerissa Street, a teacher, writer, speaker, and all-around amazingly creative person who will be reading and leading on our beach on Friday, Aug. 7. Nerissa is definitely a STAR at the Hermitage and back at home in Fort Lauderdale. But even though she lives in Florida, she’s never seen sharks’ teeth like we have on Manasota Key. Read all about it here and come meet her Friday.

Ah-Ha Insights and Stories Told Lovingly

Kukuki Velarde created a delicate whimsical, ode to her little girl Vida. Line drawings on paper, cut out and layered in three dimensions told the beautifully crafted, artfully re‐imagined story of how her little daughter came to be. A fairy baring an egg metaphorically gave a gift to Kukuli that started Vida’s life.

Kukuki Velarde created a delicate whimsical, ode to her little girl Vida. Line drawings on paper, cut out and layered in three dimensions told the beautifully crafted, artfully re‐imagined story of how her little daughter came to be. A fairy baring an egg metaphorically gave a gift to Kukuli that started Vida’s life.

This work intended for a children’s book was a departure from her critically acclaimed ceramic work expressing the struggles of the indigenous people of Peru.

June is family residency month. Hermitage babysitters allow artist‐parents the freedom to create at an intense pace between tranquil family playtimes on the beach.

Oscar Bettison, here with his sweet baby daughter Paloma, came to write a commission for an Amsterdam ensemble.


His warm comfortable British accent seemed at home in the Hermitage living room when we gathered in the house to chat after his composer‐talk was rained out on the beach. A conversation evolved about his way of composing music.

He told us he liked to be challenged, like when a pianist/percussionist asked him to write a solo piece. Together they had to invent ways the pianist could play percussion with his feet while still manning the keyboard.

He wrote a piece with the violin strings all tuned to D (when usually the four strings are tuned to GDAE). We watched a young virtuoso play the piece on youtube. If many of us had heard this piece on a car radio, we might have changed the channel, but after learning its origin, appreciating the difficulty and understanding the pattern, listeners were fascinated.

Oscar doesn’t go with the first idea he has for a piece. He gets more ideas, then, if the first one is still exciting, he goes with it. A writer agreed she works the same way. An artist later chimed in that Oscar’s work is like the collage she makes. Everyone heard something in his music to relate and memorable ah‐ha discourse.

Baby Paloma’s father had sat on the old wooden Hermitage floor helping her learn her first words in the morning. That evening in the same spot Englewood’s literati (decades older than Paloma) still with curious, open minds, learned a new language too, the language of 21st century musical composition.

Following Our Fellows – April 2015

Alison Hawthorne Deming is among the 175 scientists, artists and scholars from the United States and Canada to receive a 2015 Guggenheim Fellowship Award. Deming, a professor in the Department of English in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Arizona, will use her one-year fellowship to work on a new book of essays.

Alison Hawthorne Deming is among the 175 scientists, artists and scholars from the United States and Canada to receive a 2015 Guggenheim Fellowship Award. Deming, a professor in the Department of English in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Arizona, will use her one-year fellowship to work on a new book of essays.

Playwright and 2009 Greenfield Prize Winner in Drama, Craig Lucas, has been nominated for a Tony Award for writing the Book of the musical “An American in Paris.” We’ll be watching the Tonys on Jun 7 and cheering for Craig.

For the third time, Carson Kreitzer has received a McKnight Fellowship in Playwriting, a $25,000 award given each year to two Minnesota-based playwrights. Carson says she is currently in re-writes for Red Velvet, Blue Glass, a new play commissioned by the Guthrie Theater.

Natasha Trethewey, the 19th US Poet Laureate and a Pulitzer Prize winner, opened the 20th annual Carl Sandburg Festival last month to an audience of more than 200 students, educators and members of the community in Galesburg, Illinois.

In celebration of the 30th anniversary of his first professional theater production, playwright Rich Orloff has created the 30@30 Project, an opportunity for anyone to present many of his 30 plays royalty-free from Nov. 8 through Dec. 7, 2015. To learn more and to apply for the 30@30 Project, go to www.richorloff.com.

If you are a Hermitage Fellow and would like to keep other Fellows, supporters and followers of the Hermitage, up-to-date on your exhibits, awards, performances, etc., please email your news to Sharyn Lonsdale at for inclusion in our next newsletter.

Friends Column

Now it’s May and many of you are gone for the summer. Others of you who are year-round residents hopefully will continue your volunteerism as usual. For me it’s a “push-me/pull you time of year with looking forward to another summer in Ontario and at the same time being reluctant to leave the Hermitage at this exciting time in its history. I would love to be here to help with the move to the Palms next door. In case you didn’t know, there may be plans for the Friends to have a room all our own where we can have meetings and work together on projects.

Dear Friends of the Hermitage,

Now it’s May and many of you are gone for the summer. Others of you who are year-round residents hopefully will continue your volunteerism as usual. For me it’s a “push-me/pull you time of year with looking forward to another summer in Ontario and at the same time being reluctant to leave the Hermitage at this exciting time in its history. I would love to be here to help with the move to the Palms next door. In case you didn’t know, there may be plans for the Friends to have a room all our own where we can have meetings and work together on projects.

Many thanks to Linda Schilke, Bob Kinsley and Mike Schafer who cleaned closets, cupboards, drawers, nooks and crannys. Thanks to Richard Parsons who made the door to the Harry Potter closet open and close easily. Thanks also to Mary Clement, Joan Dusenbury, Audrey Snyder, Carolyn Moore, Velvet Wildermuth and Kay Rihn who made short work of giftwrapping favors for the Greenfield Dinner. Thanks to Gladys Varga and Jacobina Trump for their work in the libraries. Thanks to Tom Dignam who transported a donated bookshelf from Venice and Jackie Parsons and Carolyn Moore who recycled worn-out Artful Lobster tablecloths into napkins. And a special thank you to new friend Becky Dexter who used her design skills to rearrange furnishings in the Hermitage House.

Please mark your calendars for a special event planned for Monday, November 2nd. Writer Tony Eprile will be in residence, and all of you are invited to take part in meeting with him to discuss his novel, “The Persistence of Memoy”. Tony is a South African now living in Vermont. His novel won the Koret Jewish Book Award and was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. It was also listed as a Best Book of 2004 by the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. Also invited to the meeting are three book discussion groups from Manasota Key. It should be a stimulating morning with Tony and a chance to meet other readers who live on the Key. You are welcome to bring family and friends and enjoy the beach afterwards. You can order “The Persistence of Memory” from Book Store1 in Sarasota. It is also available in hardcover, paperback and affordable used copies at Amazon.com. Stay tuned for more details in the fall.

Have a happy summer, and I look forward to seeing you around the time of Pioneer Days in Englewood for our annual Open House and other Labor Day weekend activities.

Marianne Schafer
Coordinator of the Friends of the Hermitage

Music at Sunset with ETHEL

Magic happens when we combine the world’s best artists with our beautiful seaside landscape. More than 400 people showed up with picnics and beach chairs for the most popular “Artists on the Beach” event the Hermitage has ever produced. They came to hear contemporary classical string quartet ETHEL.

Music at Sunset with ETHEL
May 23 on the New College Waterfront
By Patricia Caswell, Co-Founder and Program Director

Magic happens when we combine the world’s best artists with our beautiful seaside landscape. More than 400 people showed up with picnics and beach chairs for the most popular “Artists on the Beach” event the Hermitage has ever produced. They came to hear contemporary classical string quartet ETHEL.

Called by the New Yorker “the virtuosic alternative string quartet…vital and brilliant.” And by the New York Times: “Extraordinarily skilled, passionate musicians.” *ETHEL will perform greatest hits from the ETHEL Songbook, to include music by some of the six Hermitage composers who have written for the quartet and the members of ETHEL. Featuring a special ETHEL meditation on the setting sun.

I have long wanted to bring one of our beach artist events to North Sarasota County for people who think the drive to the Hermitage is too far. Now it will happen, thanks to our friends at New Music, New College along with ETHEL residency sponsor Ina Schnell, and Gerri Aaron who helps us produce all of our artistic programs.

Do not forget to bring your own beach chairs or blankets (there is no seating available at this setting) and refreshments at 7:30pm on Saturday, May 23 to College Hall on the New College Campus. We will remake the Hermitage beach concert experience to give you a hint of what you are missing if you haven’t been to one.

ETHEL on the stage is one thing to experience, but we got to experience the heart of ETHEL while they were in residence. On stage they are lauded for their broad range, fearlessness, musical boundary crossing, and technical mastery. They happen to be four of the most sensitive, kind, inclusive, warm, generous and energetic individuals we have had at the Hermitage. Beneath the music is their spirit. The place just feels good in their presence. It feels optimistic, contagiously experimental and fun. To be in the midst of their creating music is a memory-etching experience. As sponsors, Ina and Gerri will get to spend time among them – a rare treat. They will hear the walls of this 108 year-old house reverberate like the interior of a violin. The old wood floors will vibrate with the musicians’ tapping feet crescendoing to a window rattling stomp.

We will all get to see and hear the results on the bay at New College. See you there!

* As a footnote, Hermitage composers who have written for ETHEL include Anna Clyne, Evan Ziporyn, Doug Cuomo, Aleksandra Vrebalov, Robert Mirabal and Phil Kline, plus the members of ETHEL who are composers.