Wednesday Lemonade
May 6, 2020
Welcome back to Wednesday Lemonade, a community newsletter focused on keeping VCCA Fellows, staff, and supporters connected.
We're pleased to start on a special
note of celebratory congratulations to two Fellows who were named 2020 Pulitzer Prize Finalists:
poet
Dorianne Laux
and composer
Michael Torke.
We hope you'll give their nominated work
a read
and
a listen
.
Today's newsletter includes more messages from Fellows, more resources, new upcoming event announcements with calls for participation, and features on our two Resident Directors
—
one of whom takes you on a video tour of Le Moulin a Nef in France, the other to whom we wish the fondest of farewells as he says a long-planned goodbye to Mt. San Angelo in Virginia.
Finally, we're feeling lingering love and
support from yesterday's global giving event established as a response to COVID-19. Thank you to everyone who helped us meet and surpass our $2,500 #GivingTuesdayNow Facebook Fu
ndraiser goal, which has been matched by an anonymous donor. You helped us raise $6,633 yesterday, and we can't thank you enough.
Take care.
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Join us on Facebook
where we
're premiering a video with Le Moulin Ă Nef Resident Director Cheryl Fortier. Inspired by last month's live walk around Mt. San Angelo in Amherst, VA, with Sheila Gulley Pleasants (the video that kicked off our Wednesday Lemonade newsletter and other virtual gatherings to help see us through the pandemic),
Cheryl recorded her own walking tour of VCCA's other home,
Le Moulin Ă Nef in A
uvillar, France. The video is delightfully short at just under eight minutes, and we hope it might make your day.
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David Garratt and Barbara Bernstein Move On From VCCA
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After thirteen years of loyal service, David Garratt and Barbara Bernstein are leaving Mt. San Angelo. He and Barbara have been a faithful presence at VCCA, serving and supporting Fellows in many roles and in all sorts of situations and seasons — on the grounds, in the kitchen, with maintenance, in the wee hours of the morning, on holidays, and beyond.
Barbara and David first came to VCCA as Fellows in 2007, and they became Resident Artists later that same year. In May 2017, David was named Resident Director. As a permanent, year-round presence, they have been a stable and important part of the VCCA community.
David submitted his resignation in August 2019; he and Barbara had planned to leave VCCA later that fall, but when Kevin O'Halloran stepped in as the new executive director, they generously agreed to stay on for several months. No
w, as they head on to
their new opportunities
, we wish them all the best!
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"VCCA Fireplace Series" Debuts Thursday, May 14
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Our idea for a virtual reading series is evolving to showcase visual artists and composers (as well as writers). The new name: VCCA Fireplace Series.
This series
—
in the spirit of the sharing of work among Fellows that takes place after dinner in front of the fireplace at Mt. San Angelo
—
will feature live video presentations by two or three Fellows and take place every other Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET. The focus will be on new work, particularly by artists with public events affected by the pandemic.
The inaugural event will take place Thurs., May 14, at 7:30 p.m. ET, via Facebook Live.
Our first two guest artists will be poet
Julie Bloemeke
and novelist
Christina Chiu
.
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Call for composers and visual artists who had Spring/early Summer openings or performances impacted by COVID-19:
You're invited to join by sending your name, genre, and info about the performance or opening. Each VCCA Fellow included will have an 8-15 minute slot including time for questions. Please let us know—very briefly—how you would use that time with an email to Fellow and Board Member Steven Petrow (
sp@stevenpetrow.com
) as soon as possible.
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Upcoming Events Posted in Virtual VCCA
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Wed., Ma
y 6, 7-8 p.m. ET | Let's Talk Books With Christina |
Join Ch
ristina Chiu with authors
Sylvia A. Harvey
,
Lauren Francis-Sharma
, and Maggie Downs as they read from their work and discuss the different ways they approach the topic of “Family” in their work.
Fri., May 8, 3-4:15 p.m. ET | VCA Individual Artists Listening Session |
The Virginia Commission for the Arts (VCA) invites
Individual Artists to hear current efforts of VCA, share what you as an Individual Artist are experiencing, connect with peers from across the state, and learn of other COVID-19 resources.
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Virtual VCCA members can add their own upcoming events using the + button in the upper righthand corner.
Not already a member of Virtual VCCA?
Use this link to join the group.
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Below are just a few of the many lovely messages from Fellows we've collected so far.
Keep them coming!
And keep an eye out for more messages from Fellows elsewhere.
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"I suspect that along with the many creative folks who I met at VCCA in February 2020, I just made it under the wire before the virus began to close activities down. Needless to say, it was a memorable experience and it certainly prepared me, and connected me to new friends whose posts or contributions to a community email have helped sustain me during my recognition that I may well be a born again recluse, at least for the moment.
Needless to say, I spend time in my attic studio where I am working on what is next. I am also co-curating an exhibition with Smith Every Gallery director Lia Newman at Davidson College on an exhibition titled True Likeness, hopefully for fall 2020 during the presidential election.
"
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A scheduled exhibition in Athens, Ga. will now go online, but Tom is looking forward to the challenge. Works he had completed at VCCA are to be included in the re-opening of Hodge Taylor in Charlotte.
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"Since I left my truncated — but full — fellowship at VCCA, a poet and essayist, Sayuri Ayers, and I began to Face Time on Saturdays, sharing our work. Each week, we set up a new commitment for the week ahead. While it's not the same as the intense time and sharing at VCCA, it is beneficial in a different way. We are productive, supportive and connected despite the many miles that separate us. I'd suggest it for other fellows who are now isolated in their homes until the horror of this pandemic has passed."
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"Wow, what do I say...Luckily, I’m not easily bored—perhaps that’s an artists’ super power. I think that we’re lucky being artists. Our imaginations and the ability to productively be alone is an advantage in this time of reflection and social, economic and health challenges.
We are fortunate to be creatives—our creativity provides us with self motivation, purpose, voice and perhaps most important—empathy."
Two exhibitions featuring work either created or conceived at Kathleen's 2018 VCCA residency had to close to the public mid exhibition with the return dates for the work up in the air: “all WOMEN Exhibition” Lewis-Clark State College Center for Arts & History, Lewiston, ID; “Representing the West” Sangre de Christo Art Center, Pueblo, CO.
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"With public engagements foreclosed, I've engaged in foreign interviews (Sweden's
Nootralize
) and domestic ones (The History Channel), as well as written more frequently for my column at
Psychology Today
and with former
collaborators
. I stare out my window thinking of the cows, of walking down Stage Rd and back up through the main drive, of early breakfasts watching the sun come up, of wine-saturated dinners, and evenings by the fire and around the piano. The photo is of my home office wall -- emulating VCCA, of course. How I miss the push-pin space!"
Two big appearances of Richard's would have been the Chicago Humanities Festival and book signing, and the University of Vienna's Institute of Music.
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From the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA)
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NYFA offers a robust, wide ranging, and regularly updated listing of information on
Emergency Grants
for artists across disciplin
es
—
and it'
s not just for New Yorkers.
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🧡
Stay safe, and be well.
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