Pleasants at work on his sculpture in Auvillar, France, October 2013 Craig Pleasants announced this week that he will resign his position as VCCA’s Artistic Director effective February 1, 2014.  Craig and his wife Sheila came to VCCA from New York City in October 1989 to work at VCCA. They lived in the Studio Barn apartment for seventeen years with their three daughters, moving off the property in 2006.  Sheila will continue her work with VCCA as Director of Artists’ Services. Pleasants said “I have loved this organization and the contact with the wonderful, brilliant people it has brought into my life, but it is time to move on to the next phase of my life.” “I have several demanding art projects in the works, and Sculptorhouse.com, an art and design venture I started several years ago, has taken on some exciting new developments that now demand more of my time,” said Pleasants. “My sculpture practice has focused for many years on shelter and alternative methods of crea

Attention Fellows! Getting into the holiday spirit, VCCA has extended the application deadline for International Residencies to  December 31, 2013 .  As long as your application is postmarked by the 31 st , we will include it for review. Why not take advantage of this opportunity to work abroad at one of our partner organizations in Austria, Malta, Germany, or Ireland or at the VCCA-France facility is picturesque Auvillar, France? "My residency at Moulin à Nef could not have been a greater gift to my creative life...The special character of Auvillar and support of VCCA heightened for me the thrill of discovery...The sights alone gave me a lifetime of imagery and memories."   -Meredith Fife Day on her residency in Auvillar. Find the application for the program in Auvillar, France   here . "The staff and facilities were amazing. It was a once in a lifetime experience for me as an artist, incredibly productive also.  The castle i

Helen Benedict, VCCA Fellow, novelist, journalist, and Professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, was named a finalist for the Trust Women Journalist Award, recognizing a journalist who has made a significant contribution to the coverage of women’s rights. This is the latest in several awards Benedict has won for exposing the epidemic of sexual violence in the military. In 2012, she was given the Ida B. Wells Award for Bravery in Journalism and named one of the 21 Leaders for the 21st Century by Women's eNews. In 2007, Benedict broke the story about the epidemic of sexual violence in the military, for which she won The James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism. Her prize-winning book, “The Lonely Soldier: The Private War of Women Serving in Iraq” brought about the 2011 class action suit against the U.S. Pentagon on behalf of military women who were sexually assaulted while serving, and inspired the Oscar-nominated docu