The Hermitage Artist Retreat Announces 2010 Commission To Be Awarded To Visual Artist 4/15/10

The Hermitage Artist Retreat, administers of the annual $30,000 Greenfield Prize, is pleased to announce that the 2010 commission will be awarded to a visual artist on April 15, 2010. The honoree will be decided by a group of national experts selected by Dan Cameron, Director of Visual Arts at the Contemporary Arts Center of New Orleans and the founder of "Prospect.1 New Orleans," the largest biennial of international contemporary art ever organized in the United States. Cameron is one of the visual arts representatives on the Hermitage Artist Retreat National Artist Advisory Committee. The Greenfield committee, which will remain anonymous throughout the process, nominates approximately 30 mid-career visual artists to be considered. The winner will be decided in February 2010. The award will be presented at the Greenfield Prize Celebration on April 15th, in Sarasota, Florida.

"This marks the third Greenfield Prize award and we couldn't be more excited about the success of this project and the upcoming year," remarked Bruce E. Rodgers, executive director of the Hermitage Artist Retreat. "As the prize emerged, one of our challenges was how to make it available to all arts disciplines. The decision made by the committee was to have a three-year rotation commissioning drama in year one, music in year two and a "wild card" in year three. The "wild card" commission could be in any discipline, combination of disciplines, or even by theme or other criteria. The very esteemed Hermitage Artist Retreat National Artist Advisory Committee, featuring some of the most renowned leaders in the arts nationally and internationally, will determine the category of the wild card commission. This is our first wild card and Dan's group will be charged with considering all types of visual art to come up with the winner."

In addition to presenting the award to the 2010 winner in April, the Greenfield Prize Celebration will also include a world premiere reading of a new play being created by award-winning playwright Craig Lucas, the first Greenfield Prize winner in drama. Lucas plans to visit the Hermitage Artist Retreat this year to work on the project. In addition to the monetary prize, winners are given a six-week residency at the Hermitage Artist Retreat, a beachfront campus in Englewood, FL (www.hermitage-fl.org), where they work on their award-winning project. They are also paired with a local professional presenting partner who will help to develop the work. In the case of Craig Lucas, Sarasota's renowned Asolo Rep will have their actors present the reading. Like all Hermitage artists, Greenfield Prize winners will perform two programs free and open to the public while in residence.

"The Greenfield Prize is different than most monetary arts prizes," Rodgers continued. "Our commitment to the artist goes beyond the financial gift. We will also help them develop and promote their work in our community and nationally. Sarasota County has always been known as a place for lovers of the arts. This is the perfect community to premiere exciting work by significant American artists that will then be produced and exhibited throughout the country."

In 2008, longtime Sarasota residents Bob and Louise Greenfield through the Philadelphia-based Greenfield Foundation established the Greenfield Prize. The prize will be the means by which a groundbreaking, enduring work of art will be created each year at the Hermitage Artist Retreat. The Prize consists of a $30,000 commission of an original work of art, a six-week residency at the Hermitage, and a partnership with a professional arts organization to develop the work and possibly premiere it. A distinguished five-person panel consisting of some of the most highly respected authorities in American art select each Greenfield Prize recipient. Three voting members on each committee are joined by a producing partner representative and Joni Greenfield of the Greenfield Foundation. Hermitage Executive Director Bruce Rodgers facilitates.

For more information on the Greenfield Prize, visit the website at www.greenfieldprize.org. For more information on the Hermitage Artist Retreat, visit the website at www.hermitage-fl.org or contact Executive Director Bruce E. Rodgers at 941-475-2098.

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