VCCA Connects: Bringing Art to the Community
The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA) is excited to launch a new traveling event series in our region! In partnership with neighboring community spaces, we’ll be connecting local art lovers to the creative work of VCCA Fellows who are visiting from around the world. VCCA Connects events are always free and open to the public.
Join Us: April 30, 2025
The first VCCA Connects event will be held at Second Stage on April 30, 2025, from 7 to 8 p.m. The night’s program will feature three VCCA Fellows who will share their creative work and answer questions from the audience.
Bishu Chattopadhyay
Bishu Chattopadhyay is a bassist, band leader, and composer based in New York who grew up in Kolkata (Calcutta). His musical training started with the tabla. He was part of a legendary band, Moheener Ghoraguli, India’s pioneer folk-rock band. In 1980 when the band was invited to perform during the Kolkata International Jazz Festival, sharing the stage with Mingus Dynasty Orchestra, Bishu switched from cello to double bass. bcjazz.net
David Fludd
David Fludd is from New York and presently lives in Manhattan. He earned a BA in Art from Morehouse College as well as an MFA in Painting and Printmaking from the Yale School of Art. He has attended Skowhegan. He studied printmaking at New York University. He was an Artist-in-Residence at the Studio Museum in Harlem and a fellow at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, MA. He has been a resident at Yaddo. David Fludd has won a John S. Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship in painting. dfludd.weebly.com
Leah Rogin
Leah Rogin grew up in Southwest Virginia, where her new novel, Til That Morning, is set. Her first novel, Burying Norma Jeane, was published in 2024 and is a mother-daughter roadtrip novel that crescendos in the cemetery where Marilyn Monroe is interred next to Hugh Hefner. Leah currently lives in the mountains west of Denver with her children and other creatures. leahrogin.com
Partnering Venue
The mission of Second Stage | Amherst is to inspire creativity and community by providing a place where the cultural, civic, and economic vitality of Amherst County is encouraged.