The Wachtmeister Award is endowed by VCCA Fellow and Board member Linda Wachtmeister and administered by the VCCA Fellows Council. It is presented every two years in rotation to a prominent writer, visual artist, or composer whose significant achievement in the arts is widely recognized. A list of previous award recipients is provided below.
This award acknowledges the vital role of the arts in our world, the importance of artists who exemplify excellence in their field, and the necessity of time and space for the creative phase of all artistic work.
2027 Wachtmeister Award
The 2027 Wachtmeister Award will be given to an interdisciplinary visual artist pushing the boundaries of traditional and nontraditional materials and approaches. Applicants must have worked professionally for at least 15 years with substantial national or international achievement in their field, including publications, grants, awards, and/or other signs of achievement. This award is for someone who has never been in residence at VCCA. There is no application fee.
The award winner will receive a fully-funded VCCA residency of up to 30 days, to be scheduled between May 1, 2027, and August 31, 2028; a $1,000 honorarium; and a travel stipend of $750. The VCCA residency at Mt. San Angelo includes an individual studio, a private bedroom with private en-suite bath, and three prepared meals each day in a community of more than 20 writers, visual artists, and composers in the foothills of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains.
Applications closed May 15, 2026.
Wachtmeister Award Recipients
2025: Douglas Knehans, music composition
2023: Kelly Luce, fiction
2021: M. Florine Démosthène, visual art
2019: Robert Normandeau, music composition
2017: Emily Rapp Black, nonfiction
2015: Anne Ferrer, visual art
2013: Debra Marquart, poetry
2011*: James McGarrell, visual art
2008*: Kia Corthron, playwriting
2006*: Anna Weesner, music composition
2005*: Thomas Roma, visual art
2004*: Ha Jin, fiction
* The award was originally called the “VCCA Award for Excellence in the Arts.” It was renamed the “Wachtmeister Award” in 2013.
