STAR: State Teacher/Artist Residency

A cooperative program of the Florida Alliance for Arts Education and The Hermitage Artist Retreat

2026 Application Open - APPLY NOW

Florida is filled with talented, dedicated artists who are certified full-time public school teachers. Their lives are spent trying to balance the challenge of expressing their artistic selves while pursuing their profession as a public school educator.

The STAR program is designed to honor and nourish the artist in the educator by providing up to five public school educators from Florida with the opportunity to pursue their artistic work in the inspiring environment of the prestigious Hermitage Artist Retreat.

A Hermitage residency is a gift of time and space for artists to dedicate to their practice. There is no requirement to produce work. However, most STAR artists have reported accomplishing more in these two weeks than in two years at home. The STAR residency provides intense personal time for concentration AND a community of artists from various disciplines with which to share and learn. STAR artists seize the opportunity and find themselves more productive than at any other time in their creative lives.

Hermitage Artist Retreat
Hermitage Artist Retreat building

Eligibility Criteria

  • Full-time arts teacher in a Florida Public School with 5 consecutive years of teaching (e.g., creative writing, dance, music, theatre, visual art) Note: Charter schools are only eligible if managed by their school district (i.e., having control over curriculum and admissions).
  • Plans to teach in a Florida Public School the year following STAR program
  • Provide work samples required in each genre of residency plan (maximum of 3 files at 100MB per file)
  • Former STAR's are eligible to apply 5 years after their participation in the program.

Residency FAQ

What is expected?
While there is no requirement to produce completed works during the residency, resident artists are encouraged to use this gift of time to work on current works or new bodies of work. At the conclusion of the residency, resident artists will collaboratively produce a one-hour event open to the public, in which each artist will explain and/or demonstrate their work (may include performances or open studio tours, etc.).

What is provided?
A private bedroom and bathroom in one of the Hermitage beachfront houses on the barrier island of Manasota Key on the Gulf of Mexico south of Sarasota, Florida. All houses have air-conditioning, a kitchen, a washer and dryer, and linens/towels provided; a work area or studio space; beach access; wireless internet and printer access; a keyboard or piano for composers, additional equipment may be provided by request as available.

What is NOT provided?
Meals (except a welcome dinner); travel support; art supplies/equipment; smoking facilities (this is a no-smoking campus indoor & outdoors); accommodation for spouses/family/guests/pets (this is a solo residency)

The Hermitage Artist Retreat

The Hermitage Artist Retreat is a not-for-profit artist residency program on Manasota Key in Englewood, FL. Its beachfront properties have been lovingly and expertly restored and adapted into living space and studio space for writers, painters, poets, playwrights, sculptors, composers, and other primary creators. A leading national arts incubator, the Hermitage has hosted Pulitzer Prize winners, MacArthur winners, Guggenheim Fellows, Tony, Grammy, and Academy Award winners, among the world’s most influential and creative artists. Learn more about The Hermitage Artist Retreat.

2026 Timeline

APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN

Monday, April 20, 2026 11:59 PM   APPLICATION SUBMITTAL DEADLINE

Tuesday, May 19, 2026 2026   STAR: State Teacher/Artist Residency Winners Announced

Tuesday, June 30 – Sunday, July 12, 2026   STAR Residency at the Hermitage

Friday, July 10, 2026   STAR Program Showcase (Each STAR artist presents, explains and/or demonstrates their work at this culminating one-hour event.)

2025 STAR Recipients