Welcome back to VCCA's monthly newsletter focused on keeping Fellows, staff, and supporters connected. This November 2022 edition of "Wednesday Cider" brings you the latest news from VCCA's artist residency programs in Virginia and France, including open fellowship opportunities, recent and upcoming events, messages from Fellows, and more.

Writers, visual artists, and composers interested in Fall 2023 residencies at Mt. San Angelo in Virginia should apply online by January 15, 2023.

The current offering of fully-funded fellowships for this application period include opportunities for: Artists of color who have not previously been in residence at VCCA; American writers, visual artists, and composers of African or Latin American descent; Female-identifying fiction writers; Visual artists creating substantive work for children; Writers in any genre who self-identify as LGBTQ+; and Female-identifying fiction writers, screenwriters, or visual artists, emerging in mid-life and beyond, whose creative paths may have been detoured or hindered by chronic health conditions or disabilities.

Next month, VCCA will welcome visual artist Crystalyn Hutchens as the inaugural recipient of the Marian Treger Fellowship for Enduring Creativity, a fully-funded residency established to support women whose creative paths may have been detoured or hindered by chronic health conditions or disabilities.

Hutchens is an Ohio-based semi-realistic artist who lives with several non-visible disabilities, including postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). Her current body of work centers around bringing attention to individuals in the chronically ill and disabled communities who experience hidden disabilities.

In addition to ensuring that artists in residence at Mt. San Angelo have three nutritious meals a day, our talented friends from Meriwether Godsey are always keen to throw some fun food surprises into the mix. Thanks to Katy, Betsy, and Pepe for always keeping things festive for Fellows! This Halloween inspired such treats as these:

Next Wednesday at Sweet Briar College! Two VCCA Fellows — author Jamila Minnicks and composer Anna Rubin — will present their work to the community.

Date: Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Time: 7:30 p.m.

Location: Reahard Gallery, Cochran Library, Sweet Briar College

When VCCA Fellow Sandell Morse first came to Le Moulin à Nef in Auvillar, France, she was thinking of writing about the area’s World War II history. She ended up on a circuitous path that led to her 2020 memoir The Spiral Shell, A French Village Reveals its Secrets of Jewish Resistance in World War II. Now, Sandell is back in residence and preparing for an upcoming reading from the book.

In 2022, Sandell created The Spiral Shell Fellowship with a generous gift. This endowed fellowship will fund in perpetuity an annual residency for a writer attending VCCA’s residency program at Le Moulin à Nef. The first recipient of the fellowship, Jan Freeman, was in residence earlier this year.

We appreciate everyone who came out to Mt. San Angelo the last weekend of October as we enjoyed back-to-back beautiful autumn days for Volunteer Day and Open Studios.

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 good news is that I have won an Inlandia Institute prize for my memoir, Guajira, the Cuba Girl. I completed the book during my VCCA Fellowship in fall 2021. The memoir will be published by Inlandia in fall 2023. Grateful to VCCA for making possible my productive, creative time at the residency. Thanks, gracias."

"A solo show at Penumbra Foundation in NYC for my project Obras ran from September 22 to November 7. I've also released a book by the same title. The pictures follow the route of the Transnordestina, a railroad under construction in the northeast of Brazil."

Mark Ciabattari's fourth absurdist Rizzoli novel, When the Mask Slips, is just out from Bordighera Press.

"Throughout, Ciabattari brings a deadpan charm to the absurd accounts. Once again, this thoughtful author demonstrates an admirable compassion for human frailty." - Publishers Weekly

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.

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