The Hermitage Greenfield Prize: Where Art Meets Social Impact

Top two images: Greenfield Foundation Trustees and playwright Martyna Majok. Bottom image: The 2024 Hermitage Greenfield Prize dinner at the Hermitage Artist Retreat.

By Jill Greenfield Feldman, Trustee & Foundation Manager

The Hermitage Greenfield Prize is sponsored by Greenfield Foundation, a client of harp-weaver LLC.

What better place to spark an artist’s creativity than a week’s stay on a beautiful tranquil beach? Professionals working in all sorts of media can relax, work, collaborate with other artists (if they wish), and focus on their craft at Hermitage Artist Retreat on Manasota Key in Sarasota, Florida.

This setting is where, for several weeks of the year, you can find winners of the Hermitage Greenfield Prize, a commission sponsored by Philadelphia-based Greenfield Foundation, a harp-weaver LLC client.

The Prize, started in 2008, seeks to inspire the creation of work that has the potential to make a positive impact on the understanding of current social issues. It alternates between drama, music, visual art and a ‘wild card’ year. Nominees are chosen by a panel of judges, and the winner receives $35,000 and a residency at the Hermitage, with the expectation that the prize is for future work that will premiere in Sarasota, Florida within 2 years of the award being granted.

A ‘Greenfield Hermitage Prize Weekend’ is held every spring in Sarasota at which there is recognition of the newest Hermitage Prize recipient. The beneficiary from two years prior showcases their work to the public for the first time and engages in conversation with the community. You can find a full list of the winners here.

Trustees of the Greenfield Foundation also have other opportunities to engage with previous Prize recipients. Recently, several of us attended a play in New York by 2018 Prize winner Martyna Majok, a playwright. Martyna, who also won a Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for her play ‘The Cost of Living,’ currently has a show playing  at Manhattan Theater Company called ‘Queens’ about two generations of immigrant women living in a basement in Queens, New York. The piece is a merger of two plays; one she had written before 2018 (called ‘Queens’) and the other was her Hermitage commission, called ‘Babushka.’  Martyna calls ‘Queens’ her ‘life’s submission.’

Whether or not someone create their life’s submission with their Prize, or whether it’s the next step in their artistic journey, we’re inspired by the creativity, thoughtfulness, and powerful messaging that these works have. Art inspires social change and brings communities together, and we’re pleased to be able to support these efforts.