Welcome to VCCA's community newsletter focused on keeping Fellows, staff, and supporters connected.

We're blown away by the response to our 50th Anniversary Fellowships, recent changes to our application requirements, and new outreach efforts at VCCA. With our lowered application fee, the removal of our previous recommendation letter requirement, and thoughtful work by staff member Shawn Washington in her new role as Outreach Manager, we've seen a staggering boost in application numbers for our most recent application cycle. With many first-time applicants and a wonderfully diverse application pool, we're looking forward to welcoming new Fellows to our community in the coming seasons.

As we move forward with our goal to create an ever-more inclusive residency program, we are implementing a new application requirement for returning Fellows. To help us welcome a greater number of new Fellows into the VCCA community, we now ask that returning Fellows not reapply for a Mt. San Angelo residency until two years after their most recent residency at Mt. San Angelo. This change is effective immediately for our current application for the Summer 2023 residency season at Mt. San Angelo.

Returning Fellows may apply to international programs as usual. Returning Fellows are an essential part of the VCCA community, and it's an honor to support artists throughout their careers. Applications are now open for the 2023 season at Le Moulin à Nef in Auvillar, France, and for two 2023 international exchange programs; these opportunities are open only to previous VCCA Fellows. All current applications close on September 15, 2022.

Toward the end of this month (and fiscal year!), we're looking forward to hosting our 50th Birthday Garden Gala & Art Auction in person at Mt. San Angelo! Get your tickets today! In addition to in-person festivities for ticketed guests, there will be an online art auction open to all. We hope you'll take a moment to consider supporting VCCA as we near the close of our fiscal year — whether by purchasing a gala ticket, bidding in our online auction later this month, or making an online donation. Donations to VCCA’s Annual Fund are essential to supporting day-to-day operations. Donations to our 50th Anniversary Fund support free residencies for artists of color who are new to VCCA.

We highlight more events and opportunities below. Thanks for reading.

VCCA is pleased to welcome Jared Smith, a young, up-and-coming, LA-based composer, as the third recipient of VCCA's Anne Spencer Fellowship, established in 2017 in honor of Harlem Renaissance poet and civil rights activist Anne Spencer.

Jared Smith is currently in residence at Mt. San Angelo. He will present a short lecture and share his music on Monday, June 13, 2022, from 3 to 4 p.m., at Wayside Gospel Church in Lynchburg, VA. The event is free and open to the community, presented in partnership with the Anne Spencer House and Garden Museum.

Tickets are on sale for our 50th Birthday Garden Gala & Art Auction.

Join VCCA for a 50th birthday party to remember! Enjoy food and drink by Meriwether Godsey, live music by Martina DaSilva, special access to tour VCCA's grounds and studios, and an in-person exhibition of artwork available for bidding in our online benefit auction.

Proceeds will support VCCA's 50th Anniversary Fund, a new effort to fund at least 50 first-time residencies for artists of color through 2023.

We're pleased to share that the online art auction will include 15 pieces by the following visual artists: Olive Ayhens, Sally Bowring, Adjoa J. Burrowes, Dale Emmart, Mark Fox, Daniel Hauben, Christine Hiebert, Julian Jackson, Wosene Kosrof, Tom Martinelli, Sarah McEneaney, Tanja Softić, Medford Taylor, April Vollmer, and Mindy Weisel.

This free two-week residency was established in 2022 by VCCA Fellow and Board member Christina Chiu to support writers who self-identify as part of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. The VCCA residency at Mt. San Angelo in Amherst, Virginia, includes a private bedroom with en-suite bath, a separate individual studio, and three meals a day in a community of cross-disciplinary artists.

"It’s with pride that I serve on the Board of Directors for VCCA. Over the course of 20 years, I have seen it grow and change," says Chiu. "I’ve seen it blossom into a leader in the art world. Likewise, it has seen my career through its many twists and turns, supporting and nurturing the growth of my work. VCCA has given me precious moments of possibility."

Writer Sandell Morse has established The Spiral Shell Fellowship to support writers attending VCCA’s residency program at the Moulin à Nef in Auvillar, France. This opportunity is open only to VCCA Fellows who have already attended a residency in Virginia.

Morse is a longtime Board member and VCCA Fellow who currently serves as president of the VCCA Abroad Board of Directors. It was at a VCCA residency in Auvillar where Morse began a complex journey of discovery that led to her recent memoir The Spiral Shell, A French Village Reveals its Secrets of Jewish Resistance in World War II (Schaffner Press, 2020).

“Without VCCA, there would be no book,” says Morse. “It gives me great pleasure to give back to an organization that has given so much to me and to be able to help other writers.”

Writers, visual artists, and composers who have not been in residence at Mt. San Angelo in the last two years are invited to apply for residencies of varying lengths with flexible scheduling during our Summer 2023 residency season (May – August). A variety of fully-funded fellowships and significant financial aid are available for this application period. Learn more »

For Fellows who have had a residency in Virginia, VCCA offers the opportunity to apply for residencies at Le Moulin à Nef in Auvillar, France, a lovely village on the Garonne River. A residency at Le Moulin à Nef is an immersive experience, rich in history, architecture, wonderful wine, and food with Roman, Gallic, and Occitan influences. Learn more »

Six-week residency opportunities, June 1 – July 15, 2023, are provided for four VCCA Fellows (two visual artists, a writer, and a composer). Learn more »

A cultural exchange with the city of Salzburg, this four-week residency in August 2023 for a visual artist provides a combined studio and living space, as well as a stipend. Learn more »

Fellows, share your news. This is a way to tell the VCCA community about your work. We're always especially interested in stories about work created in connection to your VCCA residency.

"My debut novel, The Complicated Calculus (and Cows) of Carl Paulsen, will be published by Fitzroy Books on July 5, 2022."

Helen Benedict's book, Map of Hope and Sorrow: Stories of Refugees Trapped in Greece, co-written with Syrian writer Eyad Awwadawnan, is to be published in the U.K. in June and in the U.S. in October, by Footnote Press/Bonnier Books.

Browse VCCA's page on Bookshop.org to find new books written by VCCA Fellows.

VCCA Fellows: To tell VCCA about your forthcoming books, send us your news.

🧡 Stay safe, and be well.

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