Welcome to the March edition of VCCA's monthly newsletter focused on keeping Fellows, staff, and supporters connected — the last "Wednesday Cider" before we transition back to "Wednesday Lemonade" in honor of springtime.

In France, March brings the beginning of a new residency season at VCCA's Le Moulin à Nef. In today's newsletter, Resident Director Cheryl Fortier shares some quiet anticipation from Auvillar.

In Virginia, we're right in the middle of our winter/spring residency season (January - April) and accepting applications for residencies this time next year. We're gearing up to host both Spring Volunteer Day and Spring Open Studios at Mt. San Angelo on the first weekend of April; these public events only happen a few times each year, so mark your calendar and plan to pay us a visit! We're also happy to announce the date for our annual fundraising gala, and share a video recap of last year's fabulous event.

In other news, we check in with Director of Dining Services Katy Murray on her baking adventures; remind writers, visual artists, and composers of our next application deadline; look forward to connecting with Fellows and writers in Seattle at the 2023 AWP Conference & Bookfair next week; and pass along news from Fellows. Thanks for reading.

Mark your calendar for Saturday, June 17, 2023 — we're looking forward to welcoming supporters to Mt. San Angelo for our 2023 Garden Gala!

This year’s fundraising event will benefit VCCA’s Annual Fund and its 50th Anniversary Fellowships for Artists of Color — a landmark program that is providing free first-time VCCA residencies to 50 artists of color each year.

Interested in becoming a sponsor? Please contact Robinette Tiller, Director of Annual Giving, at rtiller@vcca.com or 434-231-4922.

Applications opened on February 1 for Winter 2024 residencies at Mt. San Angelo in Virginia. Winter residencies will be scheduled between January 1 and April 30, 2024.

As always, we encourage writers, visual artists, and composers to check their eligibility for fully-funded fellowships available for the current application and to spread the word to other eligible artists who could benefit.

"It’s been a little sleepy in our neighborhood, le quartier du port, over the past three months. Le Moulin à Nef is situated at its entrance, and as of today, when walkers pass and cars turn in,

the energy of a new residency season about to begin can be sensed. The Maison Vieilhescaze residence and the Cebo studio building shutters are open to air the spaces, and preparations are being made for welcoming our first group of Fellows twelve days from now.

The port was once a busy center of trade with approximately 1,000 people living in the small quartier in its heyday — barge owners, mariners, bakers. There was a ceramic factory where dishes were made, and the mariner’s chapel still stands.

It is now a quiet neighborhood but while sitting on the old quay by the river, you can sense the activity that happened there. While wandering the neighborhood you may see hidden details of its past, and if you’re lucky you’ll bump into an eager storyteller wanting to share some tales that will inspire."

We're following along as Katy Murray, VCCA's Director of Dining Services from Meriwether Godsey, bakes her way through The Magnolia Bakery Handbook this year.

After a strong three-cake January to get things started, Katy kept up a steady pace with two new cakes in February for Fellows at Mt. San Angelo to enjoy: Razzy Cake (pictured here) and Red Velvet. Find more cake photos and read about Katy's baking journey on our website and social media.

Spring is a lovely time to experience VCCA's home in the foothills of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains. We invite our neighbors, friends, and anyone who's curious about our artist residency program at Mt. San Angelo to join us the first weekend of April for two public events — Volunteer Day and Open Studios.

Date: Saturday, April 1, 2023

Time: 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Location: VCCA / Mt. San Angelo

Date: Sunday, April 2, 2023

Time: 4 - 6 p.m.

Location: VCCA / Mt. San Angelo

VCCA will have a presence at the 2023 AWP Conference & Bookfair in Seattle. Whether you're based in the Seattle area or you're traveling in for the conference, we'd love to see you! You're invited to drop by Redhook Brewlab between 5 and 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 8, for an informal VCCA Fellows & Friends Gathering, a good opportunity to connect with fellow Fellows on the eve of the conference.

We hope conference attendees will swing by Table 409, VCCA's spot in the Bookfair, to say hello! And if you’re a VCCA Fellow participating in a panel, reading, or other event associated with the AWP Conference & Bookfair, please share on social media with the hashtags #VCCAFellows and #AWP23! We'd like to help spread the word about our community's books/activities!

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 painting "Lovelace" which is in the collection of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans is on display as part of "Knowing Who We Are: A 20th Anniversary Exhibition" at the museum through April 1, 2023. From their website: "This exhibition examines the development of visual arts in the American South from the 19th century to the present. In doing so, it shifts focus from antiquated stereotypes of region, period, style and subject to address a contemporary understanding of varied histories reflecting broader inclusivity and representation."

The world premiere of a new choral work, "The Red Wheelbarrow" (developed during my September VCCA residency) happened on February 25 & 26. Commissioned by Inversion Ensemble, they performed it in their "Planet Home" concerts at The Rosette in Austin, TX.

Composer Laurence Sherr’s Fugitive Footsteps: Remembrance Music will be released by PARMA Recordings on March 10, 2023, with a Release Concert at Kennesaw State University on March 15, 2023. The title track, with poetry by Nobel laureate and Holocaust survivor Nelly Sachs, was begun during a VCCA residency. The compositions on the album remember and honor not only the victims and survivors of the Holocaust, but also those of other tragedies. Spanning three decades, all the compositions are intended to engender remembrance, understanding, and tolerance, and to provide solace and healing.

I have a new novel coming out in April: Coyote Weather, from Northampton press.

Immortal Stuff: prose poems, just released from Mercer University Press in February 2023!

Rosary O'Neill and Rory O'Neill Schmitt announce the publication of Edgar Degas in New Orleans, a book they co-authored — available as of February, 2023!

Browse our VCCA Fellows page on Bookshop for a wide variety of books by Fellows published since the pandemic.

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

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