In the two years Cheryl Fortier has been resident director of VCCA-France, she's scraped together every free moment she could to paint. One result is this lovely, reflective series inspired by the Arrats River now on display at the Chapelle du Port in Auvillar until July 10. Photos by John Alexander. To see more, CLICK HERE

VCCA Fellow Brian T. Silberman sent this photo from St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity in Valletta, Malta, where he is enjoying a residency as part of VCCA's international exchange program. Housed in a 16th century fort, St. James Cavalier is now a contemporary art complex of galleries, theaters, music halls and cafes. Its recent renovation was part of the Maltese government's Millennium Project, a strong commitment to support the contemporary creative scene in Malta. Each year, one VCCA playwright and one VCCA artist is given the opportunity to work and explore this extraordinary Mediterranean island for six weeks. This year, artist John Humphries is in residency in Malta through July 28, and playwright Brian Silberman is there through July 17. The next deadline to apply for a residency at St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity is December 1, 2011. For more information about the Malta residency or other VCCA international exchange programs CLICK HERE

Patti Capaldi in black and in light blue , Heiner Riepl, director of Oberpfälzer Künstlerhaus Photo from Der Nueu Tag newspaper Photographer: Peter Steger While three Bavarian artists and a writer are working at the Mt. San Angelo studios in Amherst, four VCCA Fellows are working in the studios of Künstlerhaus II in Schwandorf. It's all part of the VCCA exchange program with Oberpfälzer Künstlerhaus. Describing it as a "fairy tale land", Patti Capaldi of New York is using her residency in Schwandorf to work on photography and image manipulation. Becky Simmons of Pittsburgh is working in a mixed media of drawing, painting and textile art. Celebrated Chinese composer Dr. Hung Ruo (currently living in New York) is also in Schwandorf working on an opera in the Vella Kebbel; while Indian writer Anjana Appancha, author of Listening Now and Incantations and Other Stories (currently living in Tempe) is working on her two latest novels. And in Virginia, Mt. ...

Out of paper, Katherine Fahey hand cut a school of fish, seahorses and jellyfish - plus a 6' x 8' piece of ocean for them to swim in. She then worked with photographer Michael O'Leary to slip the figures underwater to be captured on film in a uniquely beautiful shadow-puppet sequence for the Wye Oak music video, 'Fish'. To see the video, click here .

Architectural sculptor and VCCA Program Director Craig Pleasants has his eco-friendly Octagonal Living Unit (OLU) on Kickstarter. The OLU is a 400-square-foot, do-it-yourself kit house that can be a studio, guest house, vacation cabin - or emergency housing. Quick to assemble, OLU is designed to be energy-efficient, strong, lightweight, safe - and affordable. To see the Octagonal Living Unit video or to make a pledge, click here .

VCCA Fellow Edwin Honig, poet, critic and translator, died on May 25 at his home in Providence, Rhode Island. He was 91. Best known for his elegant translations of Spanish and Portuguese literature, he was knighted by the President of Portugal in 1986; and in 1996 by the King of Spain. He was a twice Guggenheimed fellow and a grantee of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the National Endowment for the Humanities. In addition to his translation work, he published ten books of poetry, five books of criticism and fiction, and three books of plays. Mr. Honig served in the U.S. Army in the European Theatre from 1942 to 1946. He taught at New York University, Illinois Institute of Technology, University of New Mexico, Purdue University, Claremont College, Harvard University and Brown University, where he founded Brown's Graduate Program in Creative Writing and established Copper Beech Press. At his death, he was emeritus professor of English and comparative literature at Brown ...