About the Award
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.
The award includes:
- a fully-funded fellowship of up to 30 days at VCCA’s Mt. San Angelo in Amherst, VA
- an honorarium of $1,000
- reimbursed travel expenses of up to $750
A VCCA residency includes an individual studio, a private bedroom with private bath, and meals in a community of cross-disciplinary artists.
Applicants must not have had a previous residency at VCCA.
International artists are eligible. VCCA encourages artists of all backgrounds to apply.
2021 Wachtmeister Award
Thank you to everyone who applied to the 2021 Wachtmeister Award! The 2021 award was open to established visual artists who had not previously been in residence at VCCA. Eligible applicants demonstrated substantial national or international achievement in their field over at least 15 years.
Three accomplished visual artists served as jurors for the award. The anonymous jury reviewed and discussed submissions from a competitive field of international applicants, ultimately honoring M. Florine Démosthène as the winner and recognizing Pedro Varela and Charles Yuen as runners up.