VCCA’s artist residency program at Mt. San Angelo in Amherst, Virginia, hosts up to 360 writers, visual artists, and composers each year in residencies of varying lengths with flexible scheduling (up to six weeks with no minimum length of stay). Applications are accepted three times a year for three distinct scheduling periods.
A residency at Mt. San Angelo includes a private bedroom with private en-suite bath, a private individual studio, three prepared meals each day, and access to a community of more than 20 other artists in residence at a time. Nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Mt. San Angelo is surrounded by natural wonders and hiking trails.
The solitary time artists receive at VCCA allows them to focus on their work without interruptions. Away from the constraints of “the real world” and in an accepting environment of talented peers, one can dream and create with the feeling that anything is possible. All opportunities to engage with other residents and the wider community through readings, open studios, etc., are entirely optional.
Residency Eligibility
Residency Experience Summary
Application Information
VCCA encourages applications to Mt. San Angelo from artists representing the widest possible range of perspectives. Emerging and established artists creating original work in a variety of literary, visual, and musical/sound arts are eligible to apply.
Applicants who are enrolled in undergraduate, graduate, or doctoral programs are eligible to apply, although projects that involve pure academic scholarship are not accepted.
VCCA Fellows are selected by peer review on the basis of professional achievement or promise of achievement in their respective fields. Separate review panels are created for each genre/discipline. Panelists undergo periodic review and rotate regularly to ensure VCCA admission decisions are guided by high caliber artists who represent a diversity of styles and tastes.
Artists are accepted to VCCA based on the quality of their work and not on their ability to pay. If you are accepted for a residency, VCCA will work with you in good faith to be sure you can come.
The actual cost of a VCCA residency is $240 per artist/per day which includes an individual studio, private bedroom, private bath, and three meals each day. VCCA residencies are supported in part by its Annual Fund which covers at least 56% of the cost of all residencies. VCCA asks accepted artists to help offset the remaining cost to the best of their ability. VCCA requests a payment of $105 per day (44% of the cost of the residency) and welcomes a per diem payment up to the full daily cost of $240 if you are able. Paying at least $105 per day helps VCCA make improvements to the overall residency experience. Anyone who can not pay $105 per day will be considered for financial assistance.
VCCA distributes $150,000 of financial assistance every year and offers a rotating selection of fully-funded fellowships at each of its three annual application deadlines (January 15, May 15, and September 15). At each deadline, applicants will be considered for a VCCA residency and as many fully-funded fellowships for which they are eligible; only one application with a single application fee is required per deadline. Accepted artists demonstrating financial need who do not receive a fully-funded fellowship are supported through financial assistance.
If the application fee presents a hardship, applicants should reach out to Artists Services at vcca@vcca.com to request an application fee waiver in advance of the deadline.
Certain fully-funded fellowships offer stipends/honoraria.