Hermitage Artist Retreat Unveils 2026 STARs Teaching Artists for Florida Residency

The Hermitage Artist Retreat (Sarasota County, Florida) has announced that 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;
• William Talenti (Hillsborough County), an award-winning American visual artist and educator whose work explores the simultaneity of identity and the indeterminacy of emotion.

Since the start of the Hermitage STARs program in 2011, 74 teachers have represented over 30 Florida 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.

A leading national arts incubator, the Hermitage is the only major arts organization in Florida's Gulf Coast exclusively committed to supporting the development and creation of new work across all artistic disciplines. The Hermitage hosts artists on its Gulf Coast Manasota Key campus for multi-week residencies, where diverse and accomplished artists from around the world and across multiple disciplines create and develop new works of theater, music, visual art, literature, dance, film, and more. As part of their residencies, Hermitage Fellows participate in free year-round community programs, offering audiences in the region a unique opportunity to engage with some of the world's leading artists and to get an authentic “sneak peek” into extraordinary projects and artistic minds before their works go on to major galleries, concert halls, theaters, and museums around the world. These free and innovative programs include performances, conversations, readings, music concerts, interactive experiences, open studios, school programs, teacher workshops, and more, serving thousands in our regional community each year.

For more information on the Hermitage and upcoming programs, visit HermitageArtistRetreat.org.

FULL PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

“2025 HERMITS STARs” Friday, July 10, 10:30am: The incredible talents of Florida's arts educators reach well beyond the boundaries of the classroom. The State Teaching Artist Residency (STAR) program, now celebrating its sixteenth year, is designed to nourish and replenish the passionate artist within each of the remarkable teachers selected for the honor. This year, they represent the disciplines of visual art, poetry, and literature, and these distinguished educators come from across the state of Florida. Génesis Allione (Visual Art, Palm Beach County), Caridad Moro (Poetry, Miami-Dade County), Clifford Parody (Literature, Polk County), and William Talenti (Visual Art, Hillsborough County) will have two weeks to create new work, culminating in a sharing with students on Friday, July 10th at the Sky Academy. Presented in Partnership with FAAE and the Englewood YMCA.

THE HERMITS ARTIST RETREAT

Sarasota County, Florida

Andy Sandberg, Artistic Director and CEO

The Hermitage is a leading national arts incubator and multidisciplinary artist retreat located on Manasota Key, Florida. For more than two decades, the Hermitage has invited accomplished artists across multiple disciplines for residencies on its beachfront campus, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. Hermitage artists are invited to interact with the local community, reaching thousands of Gulf Coast residents and visitors each year with unique and inspiring programs. Hermitage Fellows have included 20 Pulitzer Prize winners, Poets Laureate, MacArthur 'Genius' Fellows, and multiple Tony, Emmy, Grammy, Oscar winners and nominees. Works created at this beachside retreat by a diverse and accomplished group of Hermitage alumni have gone on to renowned theaters, concert halls, and galleries throughout the world. Each year, the Hermitage awards the Hermitage Greenfield Prize for a new work of art or performance, the Hermitage Major Theater Award for an original theater commission, and the Aspen Music Festival's Hermitage Prize in Composition.

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