VCCA Hosts Annual SPHEX Meeting

Photo by Karen Bell, photographer and current VCCA Fellow-in-residence

The Sphex Club of Lynchburg held their annual dinner meeting at VCCA on Wednesday, May 20. After a studio tour in the visual arts wing, the members were welcomed by VCCA Executive Director Suny Monk, who invited them to enjoy a delicious dinner with Fellows at the residency - prepared and catered by Sweet Briar College. The Sphex Club then gathered to hear "Art Is For Everyone", an inspiring speech delivered by Alex Nyerges, director of the VMFA (Virginia Museum of Fine Arts) and a VCCA board member.

Sphex is an acronym for science, philosophy, history, ethics...and the unknown. Founded in 1910, the Sphex Club celebrated its centennial in 2010 and members include the mayor of Lynchburg, college presidents, and numerous men and women from nonprofit organizations - including our own Suny Monk. It is a club in the distinguished tradition of English supper clubs, like the Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge founded in 1660, and The Club founded by Samuel Johnson and other luminaries in 1764.

Sphex is also a Greek word for stinging insect, and the Sphex Club logo is a wasp - to represent the stinging comments to which members could be subject to in the discussions that follow their presentations. The Sphex Club functions under the premise that "communities grow and prosper when nurtured by the civil exchange of information and ideas..."

To read more about the Sphex Club, click here.

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