Dear friends,
I begin this new year in a spirit of profound gratitude for the generous support so many of you provided to VCCA in 2018, and with high energy as we embark on a process of strategic thinking and planning. The months ahead will be exciting as we consider together what is essential about the “creative space” in both of our locations and what we can refine and improve for the future.
VCCA has contracted with the Davis Group, consultants from Richmond, Virginia, to work with a dedicated Board committee and senior staff on a strategic plan for VCCA.
Constituent surveys, exit surveys, and other information from recent Fellows as well as the substantive involvement of the Fellows Council will significantly inform this process. Please feel free to be in touch with me or other staff members if you have thoughts to share.
In the coming months, we will renovate the Studio Barn kitchen, redesign and modernize our website, and prepare for our annual event to be held this year on May 2 at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond. Before the season opens in Auvillar in early April, we’ll add insulation and soundproofing between the floors of the Maison Vieilhescaze and make some addit
ional improvements to the Moulin
à
Nef facility.
After a brief break for the holidays, we reopened on January 2 to welcome a great group of talented Fellows to Mt. San Angelo. The residence and Studio Barn are abuzz again with artistic energy. This community, the VCCA family, is unceasingly inspiring. Thank you for bringing your creative spirit to this organization and to the world beyond!
Yours,
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Joy Peterson Heyrman
Executive Director
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VCCA Board Welcomes New Member
At its November 30, 2018, meeting, the Board of Directors of the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA) elected Kevin O’Halloran to serve as a member of the Board and its Treasurer.
Kevin O'Halloran is a long-time resident of Charlottesville, Virginia. He has held leadership positions with the Charlottesville Opera, The Paramount Theater and the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation. His volunteer commitments include the Harvard Club of Charlottesville, the City Planning Commission, and the Tuesday Evening Concert Series.
O’Halloran holds an A.B. in English from Harvard College and a Master’s in English Literature from the University of Virginia.
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New Fellows Council Members
The VCCA Fellows Council has elected new members to serve through 2022. Writer
David Ebenbach, visual artist
Christine Hiebert, composer
Shawn Qaissaunee, and writer
Isaac Rahmim have joined the group. In addition, writer and filmmaker
Burcu Koray was elected to serve as the International Fellows Representative, and composer
Judith Shatin, who was previously serving to complete the term of a resigned member, was
re-elected to a full term.
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Application Deadline is January 15, 2019
The next application deadline is just a week away! Fully-funded fellowships offered in this cycle include the
Alonzo Davis Fellowship for American visual artists, writers, or composers of African or Latinx descent, which comes with a $500 honorarium, and the
Steven Petrow LGBTQ Fellowship open in all genres to those who self-identify as LGBTQ.
The
Jacques and Natasha Gelman Fellowship
offers an additional opportunity for Latinx and African-American visual artists. Two fully-funded residencies are available and each residency comes with an honorarium of $1,000.
If you live in the Mid-Atlantic region (New York, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia) you are eligible to apply for a fully funded two-week or one-month residency supported by the
Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation.
Those from the Charlottesville area can apply for residencies that are partially supported by the
J & E Berkley Foundation.
Please click on the links for specifics about each Fellowship.
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New Resident Fellow
We are pleased to announce that the next Resident Fellow is writer Helen Betya Rubinstein, who will be at VCCA beginning in early February through May 2019. This will be Rubinstein's third residency at Mt. San Angelo.
Our gratitude and appreciation to Fellow Paige Critcher for her service as the inaugural Resident Fellow at VCCA. For the past three months she has been a reliable member of the staff, answering emergency calls from Fellows, assisting in the kitchen as needed, and performing various other duties. Thank you, Paige!
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Each year VCCA sends exchange Fellows to four international residency programs. In 2019,
Karen Bondarchuk
, visual artist, will be in residence with the Stadt Salzburg in Austria. Four Fellows will be in residence with the
Oberpfälzer Künstlerhaus in Schwandorf, Germany: visual artists
Anne Krinsky
and
Lisa Young
, composer
Howie Kenty
, and writer
Lenore Hart
. In Mecklenburg, Germany,
Florence Carbonne
, visual artist, will be in residence with Schloss Plüschow and writer
Alison Smith
has accepted her residency at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Dublin, Ireland. Congratulations to our new international Fellows!
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Sara Pennypacker Endowed Fellowship
We are delighted to announce that children’s author Sara Pennypacker has established an endowed Fellowship to support a two-week residency plus travel stipend for artists focused on children as their audience.
“In twenty-five years of writing for kids, nothing has helped me more than my residencies at VCCA, where I have been given the time, the space, the support, and the inspiration to produce my best work. It’s a thrill to be able to offer the same opportunity to others who illuminate the paths of kids with their art,” says Sara.
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Applications for the inaugural Sara Pennypacker Fellowship will be open to child-focused writers later this month. The application deadline is May 15, 2019, for the Fall scheduling period (October 2019 - January 2020).
Choosing to make a planned gift to VCCA establishes a philanthropic legacy that benefits future artists and their work. Gifts and bequests may be directed to Fellowship endowments or to the operations endowment. You can also name VCCA as a beneficiary of your IRA. And you become a member of VCCA’s Legacy Society! Your membership involves no dues or obligations, but it does allow us to thank you and recognize your support.
To learn more about the Legacy Society, please contact
Emily Joseph
via
email
or by calling (434) 946-7236.
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Annual Report
The VCCA FY2018 Annual Report is
available on our website
for you to enjoy. In addition to lists of Fellows and donors, you'll also read about events at both of our locations, learn about the new Anne Spencer Fellowship, and get a look at our 2018 Gala.
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VETERANS/POETS: A reading by Karen Skolfield and T.J. Anderson, III
Thursday, January 17, 2019
7:30 p.m.
Riverviews Artspace, Lynchburg, VA
Skolfield and Anderson are recipients of the
Collateral Reparations Fellowships for Military Veterans, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.
VCCA/SBC Salon
Thursday, February 7, 2019
7:30 p.m.
Cochran Library, Sweet Briar College
Presentations and performances by VCCA Fellows. Open to the public.
VCCA Volunteer Day
Saturday, March 16, 2019
9:30 a.m.
Help VCCA prepare for spring! Lunch will be served and a good time had by all!
May 2, 2019
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
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