Hermitage Artist Retreat in Florida Heavily Damaged by Hurricanes Helene and Milton

The Hermitage Artist Retreat in Englewood, Florida, experienced huge storm surges due to Hurricane Milton, with repairs and damage estimated at “upwards of $1 million” as well as the cancelation of residencies and other programs for several weeks.

On October 9, storm surges of eight to ten feet pushed large amounts of sand into Manasota Key, a thin barrier island off Florida’s west coast, where the retreat is located.

“We had already been hit pretty hard by Helene and spent 10 days digging out from that,” artistic director and CEO Andy Sandberg told ARTnews. He added, “Our foundations are standing, but the windows and doors were blown out and washed through with sand, so we have enormous repair.”

Each year, the Hermitage invites a group of mid-career artists in literature, music, theatre, and the visual arts to spend four weeks at its property over a period of two years. Fellows get housing, studio space and stipends. The Hermitage also awards two annual commission prizes: the $30,000 Hermitage Greenfield Prize for a new work of art and the $35,000 Hermitage Major Theater Award.

Alumni of its artist residency in the visual arts include artists Diana Al-Hadid, Sanford Biggers, Chitra Ganesh, Todd Gray, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Sandy Rodriguez, Ted Riederer, Coco Fusco, John Sims, and William Villalongo, as well as Forge Project executive director Candice Hopkins.

On September 27, the Hermitage completed $100,000 in annually scheduled repair and maintenance work, two days before Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4. There was also a full evacuation of Manasota Key for both Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton.

The severity of Helene also prompted the Hermitage staff to prepare for Hurricane Milton by boarding up windows, building a 15-foot-tall sand dune and digging trenches on the property. “All that sand still came right back and then some,” Sandberg said. “Building that fortification, I think, is what kept our buildings alive at all. If we hadn’t done that in the 10 days between storms, I dread to think what would have happened.”

Hermitage staff are still “structurally assessing” the extent of damage to its housing units and studio spaces, but have already been in communication with artists about rebooking their residencies. Most of its events through Thanksgiving have also been canceled. But, Sandberg said, “We are not saying we’re shutting down for indefinitely. We’re not doing that.”

The Hermitage was also hard hit in 2022 by Hurricane Ian, which damaged its roof. While the damage from Hurricane Milton is worse, the earlier hurricane also gave the retreat’s staff a template for what to do next.

“After the initial shock and clean up, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work,” Sandberg said. “We reopened one house, then we reopened another, and we reopened another. We phased people back in as soon as we were able, and we were grateful to the artists for their patience. That’s what’s going to happen here. As soon as we are safely able to have people back on campus, we’ll do so.”