Life at VCCA is free of many of the distractions we find in everyday life. Artists are granted solitary time to focus on their art, and are also part of a collaborative community of accomplished artists that provides insights, new ideas, and stimulating conversation. VCCA Fellows are free to work at their own pace in quiet, spacious, light-filled studios, just a short walk from their residence overlooking the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains.
The beautiful, bucolic atmosphere of a residency at VCCA is enriched by the access that Fellows have to the libraries, exercise facilities, book shop, and support services of Sweet Briar College. In turn, VCCA Fellows have participated in the academic life of Sweet Briar by acting as guest lecturers in the classroom, presenting at the monthly VCCA/SBC Salons, or opening their studios for class visits. The two also institutions regularly collaborate on programs that bring writers, visual artists, and composers to VCCA and Sweet Briar, such as the SBC/VCCA Teaching Fellowship.
If there is a heaven where creative souls go, it will be pretty much like VCCA. The opportunity afforded to me was invaluable; time, space, community, peace, and place. I worked every day and maximized my studio time despite the allure of tempting walking trails and lovely vistas. It was the studio I do not have at home, it was the lack of interruption or a sense of guilt for not doing chores that made this such a special place.
-Janly Jaggard, visual artist
