
Virginia Center for the Creative Arts
The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA) with locations in Amherst, Virginia and Auvillar, France, advances the arts by providing creative space in which national and international writers, visual artists and composers produce their finest work. Each year, VCCA hosts over 400 artist-Fellows at Mt. San Angelo in central Virginia and over 50 artist-Fellows at the Moulin à Nef in France. The artists who come to VCCA are selected by a peer review jury on the basis of the important or innovative work they are doing in their respective fields.
The international exchange program offers residential fellowships for VCCA Fellows in many parts of the world, allowing them entree to a new culture and access to artists in those settings.
Fall 2022, September to December Residencies
Eligibility: Writers, visual artists, composers
Why do artists from around the world leave their studios behind to come to the VCCA? It's all about the work. Many artists find they accomplish more in a matter of weeks at VCCA than they can in a year at home. The VCCA also offers a chance to work privately but in proximity to more than twenty other highly accomplished artists with fresh insights, new ideas and stimulating conversation.
Fellows at the VCCA work in their own private studio, located in a renovated Normandy style barn built in the 1930s. Thirteen studios are dedicated for writers, nine for visual artists and three for composers. Writers studios are equipped with a desk, ergonomic chair and good lighting. The visual artists' studios are 500 to 700 square feet in size, with skylights, large windows, and sinks. All studios also contain a bed
Every residency includes a comfortable, private bedroom, three meals a day, and a private studio. Named for founder Elizabeth Langhorne, the VCCA Fellows Residence houses bedrooms, dining facilities, kitchens, a library, laundry facilities, and recreation rooms. Each bedroom is private with a private sink and semi-private bath. Sliding glass doors open onto vistas of rolling pastures and the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The living room has a large fireplace and grand piano. An adjoining room has a television with satellite reception. The library, with its hardy collection of books and journals, is also equipped with a high-speed wireless connection and a computer for checking email and a variety of audio equipment. The residence is a five-minute walk from the studio barn. There is no smoking in the Fellows' Residence.
The three studios for composers are equipped with pianos and one also has a Roland Electronic Keyboard. All studios are air-conditioned and heated. One studio is equipped with a Dickerson combination press. A sculptors' studio has 220-volt power and a loading dock. A darkroom with two enlargers for printing 35mm and 4x5 negatives is available for photographers.
Located at Mt. San Angelo, a 12 acres estate in Amherst Country, Virginia, approximately 160 miles southwest of Washington, D.C. The nearest railway station is 17 miles away, the nearest airport 22 miles and the nearest busstop is 3 miles away.