The Hermitage Artist Retreat (Sarasota County, Florida) announced today the distinguished Florida public school arts teachers who will spend part of their summer on Manasota Key while working on their own artistic endeavors. They are the recipients of the 2026 State Teachers Artist Residency program (STARs) – now in its sixteenth year – presented by the Hermitage Artist Retreat in partnership with the Florida Alliance for Arts Education (FAAE). This year’s recipients were selected from dozens of impressive applicants, and the teachers selected from across the State of Florida include two visual artists, an author, and a poet. These artists and educators receive a residency at the nationally renowned Hermitage Artist Retreat, where they can focus on their own work as creative artists. These teaching artists will present a family-friendly showcase of their work on Friday, July 10th starting at 10:30am. This special event will be held at SKY Academy (operated by the YMCA of Southwest Florida), by invitation only for the students in the community.
“These exceptional educators are also talented artists and creative minds in their own right,” says Andy Sandberg, Artistic Director and CEO of the Hermitage. “During the academic year, their attention is devoted to their students. The STARs program offers these distinguished teachers the opportunity to experience what leading artists from around the world have come to the Hermitage for – to focus on their craft and their creative process. Over the years, the STARs from counties across Florida have created some stunning works of art, music, theater, dance, and literature during their time at the Hermitage. Many Hermitage teaching artist alumni have shared that this program enables them to return to their students with a new fire and passion for arts education.”
The recipients of this year’s honor, selected among dozens of impressive applicants, include:Génesis Allione (Palm Beach County), a Florida-based visual and teaching artist whose work is rooted in community engagement, public art, and creative exploration; Caridad Moro (Miami-Dade County), a Florida poet, educator, and Poet Laureate Emerita of Miami-Dade County; Clifford Parody (Polk County), head of the Creative Writing Department at Harrison School for the Arts and an adjunct professor at Florida Southern College; and William Talenti (Hillsborough County), an award-winning American visual artist and educator whose work explores the simultaneity of identity and the indeterminacy of emotion. Full bios are included below.
Since the start of the Hermitage STARs program in 2011, 74 teachers have represented over 30Florida counties. These prestigious residencies culminate with a free student program, this year hosted in partnership with the Englewood YMCA.
The STARs program is one of the only Hermitage residency programs open to application; arts educators from schools throughout the State of Florida are eligible, including music, theater, visual art, dance, and creative writing teachers. For more information about the Hermitage STARs program and how to apply, Florida arts educators are encouraged to visit FAAE.org/Star.
Hermitage 2026 STARs Teaching Artist Bios
Génesis Allione
Génesis Allione (Palm Beach County) is a Florida-based visual artist and teaching artist whose work is rooted in community engagement, public art, and creative exploration. A lifelong participant in the arts, she discovered her passion for chalk art through the Lake Worth Street Painting Festival, where an early artistic experience sparked a lasting commitment to her creative practice. Known for her vibrant use of color and distinctive “Coil Effect” techniques, Allione works across a variety of mediums and surfaces, continually experimenting with new ways to tell visual stories. Her artwork reflects a passion for movement, connection, and the transformative power of creativity. As an incoming Visual Art and Digital Media educator at Bak Middle School of the Arts in West Palm Beach, Florida, Allione mentors emerging artists while fostering creativity, innovation, and artistic confidence. Beyond the classroom, she participates in street painting festivals, public art events, and community arts initiatives throughout Florida, sharing her passion for the arts with audiences of all ages. Through her dual roles as artist and educator, she seeks to inspire curiosity, creative risk-taking, and lifelong engagement with the arts.
Caridad Moro
Caridad Moro (Miami-Dade County) is a Florida poet, educator, and Poet Laureate Emerita of Miami-Dade County (2024-2026). In 2025, she received an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship and served as a poetry judge for the National Book Award, highlighting her national influence in contemporary poetry. She is the author of four poetry collections, including Visionware (Finishing Line Press 2009), Tortillera (Texas Review Press 2021), Through the Lens (TRP 2026) and the forthcoming As to Your Comment (TRP 2027). Her work has earned multiple grants and awards, including four Miami-Dade Individual Artist Grants, the 2023 Julia Peterkin Literary Award, and recognition from the Eric Hoffer and First Horizon Book Awards. Her community-centered poetry practice emphasizes collaboration, accessibility, and civic engagement. Previous community partners include O, Miami, Florida International University, The Miami Book Fair, The Knight Foundation, and others. Notable projects include “Generation 305: An Intergenerational Poetry Project,” “The Poetry of Place” at The Deering Estate, and a collaborative sonnet crown honoring Miami-Dade residents. She serves as Senior Editor for SWWIM Every Day and Poetry Curator-at-Large at the Betsy Hotel. Recent work has been featured on NPR, Poets.org, American Poets, Pleiades, and others.
Clifford Parody
Clifford Parody (Polk County) holds an MFA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and currently lives in Lakeland, Florida. He heads up the Creative Writing Department at Harrison School for the Arts, works as an adjunct professor at Florida Southern College, where he teaches a course on comic books, and teaches middle school poetry, playwriting, short stories, and worldbuilding courses for the Ashley Gibson Barnett Museum spring and summer camp programs. Parody received the Noel Callow Award from the American Academy of Poets and was also nominated for Great Britain’s Forward Prize. His work has appeared internationally in Forklift, Ohio, Neon Magazine UK, Backlash Journal UK, Terminus Magazine, and The Greensboro Review, among other publications. Before becoming a teacher, he worked as a journalist for The Ledger, and was named in the Newspaper Association of America’s “30 Under 30” list for his in-depth reporting on untested sexual assault kits in Florida, which led, in part, to changes in legislation. For this and other reporting, he was also a finalist for the Society of Professional Journalism Sunshine State Awards. He is currently working on completing a poetry manuscript and a creative non-fiction graphic novel script.
William Talenti
William Talenti (Hillsborough County) is an award-winning American visual artist and educator whose work explores the simultaneity of identity and the indeterminacy of emotion. Refined over decades, his aesthetic interlaces digital patterns with traditional figurative studies, utilizing saturated color and meticulous collage. Talenti’s practice is defined by a meditative use of fragmented space; he deconstructs the human form within abstracted landscapes using organic grids and a sophisticated creation/destruction principle. His creative perspective is shaped by global immersion, with formal studies at Temple Rome, the Tyler School of Art, and as a Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund recipient. This international lens allows him to weave diverse cultural motifs into a portfolio exhibited from Lisbon to Hiroshima. Career Highlights & Recognition: Education: Formal studies in Rome, Tokyo, Pittsburgh, and Miami. Awards: Hillsborough County District Art Teacher of the Year and National Citizenship Education honors. Support: Recipient of grants from the Hillsborough County Arts Council and Disney’s “Future Storytellers.” Exhibitions: Work held in global collections and represented by galleries throughout Florida and Pennsylvania, including the Consulate General of Japan. A dedicated collaborator and educator, Talenti continues to produce visceral, large-scale compositions that challenge the viewer’s perception of the human experience.