Season 2, Episode 5: Behind every summer is a community that keeps Fire Island alive. This episode explores the history of the beloved Pines Pantry through the eyes of its iconic Pantry Girls, alongside the volunteer firefighters of The Pines and Cherry Grove who protect the island from fires, hurricanes, beach erosion, and an uncertain future.
2026 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Celebration Full Event Lineup Revealed
Three-day celebration will honor Charisse Pearlina Weston and feature a new play by Deepa Purohit,
By: A.A. Cristi
The Hermitage Artist Retreat has announced the full schedule for the 2026 Hermitage Greenfield Prize Celebration, honoring visual artist Charisse Pearlina Weston and featuring the premiere of a new play by 2024 prize recipient Deepa Purohit. The three-day series of events will take place April 11–13 in Sarasota.
The eighteenth annual celebration, presented by the Hermitage Artist Retreat in collaboration with the Greenfield Foundation, will begin on Saturday, April 11 with a public program featuring Weston at The Ringling’s Historic Asolo Theater. The event, titled “Repetition, Enfoldment, Concealment: A Conversation on Art and Practice,” will take place at 5 p.m. and will include a conversation between Weston and Hermitage Greenfield Prize juror Larry Ossei-Mensah, an independent curator and founder of ARTNOIR. The free community event will explore Weston’s artistic practice and the themes that shape her work.
Weston, a conceptual artist and writer, examines the interplay of violence and intimacy through repetition, enfoldment, and concealment. Glass has been a central material in much of her work. Her recent solo exhibition, mis/mé- (squeeze), was named a New York Times Critic’s Pick.
The celebration will continue on Sunday, April 12 with the eighteenth annual Hermitage Greenfield Prize Dinner at Michael’s On East in Sarasota beginning at 6 p.m. The annual benefit for the Hermitage Artist Retreat will honor Weston and include live musical performances by artists from Broadway and beyond, with guest performers to be announced. Past performers at the event have included Eden Espinosa, Rachel Bay Jones, Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, and Gavin Creel.
The Hermitage Greenfield Prize is a national commission awarded by the Hermitage Artist Retreat in partnership with the Philadelphia-based Greenfield Foundation. The $35,000 prize rotates annually among visual art, theater, and music. Weston’s newly commissioned work will receive its world premiere exhibition in Sarasota in spring 2028.
The celebration will conclude on Monday, April 13 with the first public presentation of MXX: THE DIGNITY PROJECT, a new play by 2024 Hermitage Greenfield Prize winner Deepa Purohit. The work is a new Hermitage commission presented in partnership with Asolo Repertory Theatre.
The Hermitage Greenfield Prize Celebration is presented in partnership with the Greenfield Foundation, with the Community Foundation of Sarasota County serving as Lead Community Sponsor. Media sponsors include The Herald Tribune and SRQ Magazine. Ellen and Richard Sandor will serve as co-chairs for the 2026 gala dinner.
SPONSORED BY ASOLO REP
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