Virginia Center for the Creative Arts

Virginia Center for the Creative Arts VCCA's artist residency programs provide time and space to writers, visual artists, and composers.

Mission: VCCA provides time and space for national and international writers, visual artists, and composers of talent and promise to bring forth their finest works, because the arts are vital, diversity is a strength, and creativity is essential.

"Amazing grounds, efficient staff, great meals. I was lucky to meet friendly and talented artists."— Cristián Pietrapian...
06/02/2026

"Amazing grounds, efficient staff, great meals. I was lucky to meet friendly and talented artists."

— Cristián Pietrapiana

Happy June! Applications are now open for Summer 2027 residencies at Mt. San Angelo in Virginia. 🌞 Apply by September 15...
06/01/2026

Happy June! Applications are now open for Summer 2027 residencies at Mt. San Angelo in Virginia. 🌞 Apply by September 15, 2026.

Residencies of varying lengths (no minimum stay) with flexible scheduling are available May through August of next year. All residencies at include a private bedroom with en-suite bath, a separate private studio, and three prepared meals each day.

Life at VCCA is free of many of the distractions we find in everyday life. Writers, visual artists, and composers are granted solitary time to focus on their work and are also part of a collaborative community of accomplished artists that provides insights, new ideas, and stimulating conversation. are free to work at their own pace in quiet, spacious, light-filled studios.

Check our website for a closer look at the wonderful collection of fully-funded fellowship opportunities available this application cycle. Significant financial aid is always available.

Learn more at vcca.com/apply and vcca.com/fully-funded-fellowships 🧡🧡

We look forward to welcoming visitors to Open Studios this Sunday, May 31, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Mt. San Angelo. Hope to s...
05/29/2026

We look forward to welcoming visitors to Open Studios this Sunday, May 31, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Mt. San Angelo. Hope to see you there! vcca.com/open-studios/

Mark your calendar for next Sunday! Six will open their studios to the public. Visitors will also be welcome to take a...
05/20/2026

Mark your calendar for next Sunday! Six will open their studios to the public.

Visitors will also be welcome to take a self-guided tour of VCCA’s outdoor art collection during Open Studio hours.

Light refreshments will be served.

Learn more: vcca.com/open-studios

Since our founding on May 18, 1971 (55 years ago today!), thousands of writers, visual artists, and composers have passe...
05/18/2026

Since our founding on May 18, 1971 (55 years ago today!), thousands of writers, visual artists, and composers have passed through VCCA’s gates—and into an inspiring, supportive, and distraction-free environment where creativity can flourish.

Every year, more than 400 arrive at these gates carrying ideas, drafts, melodies, questions, and possibilities. VCCA provides each of them with a private studio, a separate bedroom, three daily meals, a gorgeous landscape, a community of 20+ other artists working across disciplines, and the promise that their time is their own. Under these conditions—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.

Those magical conditions are sustained only with the vital support of generous donors. In honor of VCCA's 55-year legacy and with a commitment to a future in which artists can thrive, would you make a $55 gift to VCCA today?

🧡 Text vcca55 to 50155
🧡 Or visit secure.qgiv.com/for/vccabirthdaycelebration55

Thank you for being a part of the VCCA community. Together, we can keep VCCA’s gates open to artists seeking the time, space, and freedom to create.

As we celebrate VCCA's founding 55 years ago today, it's fitting to read a feature in the latest issue of Virginia Livin...
05/18/2026

As we celebrate VCCA's founding 55 years ago today, it's fitting to read a feature in the latest issue of Virginia Living Magazine honoring Virginia's literary landscape and legacy! We're happy to be included.

"Every day at VCCA, we're reminded that there's no shortage of writers—only a shortage of time and space for the deep, sustained thinking that writing requires," says VCCA Executive Director Kevin O'Halloran. "I believe the same is true of readers. A living literary culture depends on cultivating the conditions that allow us to slow down, pay attention, and imagine life from another vantage point."

05/18/2026

As of today, VCCA has been providing the gift of uninterrupted time and space to writers, visual artists, and composers for 🎉 55 YEARS 🎉 !!

To mark this major milestone, we’re asking you to consider making a gift of $55. It’s more than a symbolic gesture — it’s a meaningful investment in VCCA’s future. If every member of the VCCA community—donors, , and art lovers alike—gave at least $55 today, we would surpass our annual fundraising goal.

Together we affirm that creativity deserves time, space, and support.

💚 Can you give $55 to celebrate 55 years?
🧡 Text vcca55 to 50155
🩵 Or visit secure.qgiv.com/for/vccabirthdaycelebration55

05/15/2026

For more than 50 years, writers have escaped to this quiet corner of the Blue Ridge to do one thing: create. At the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, literary voices from Beth Macy to Margot Lee Shetterly have found the space to shape award-winning work.⁠
⁠https://virginialiving.com/culture/a-night-of-nights
⁠
Written by Madeline Mayhood⁠
Photo courtesy of VCCA
⁠

"It’s hard to imagine a place so bucolic and lovely being exciting, but it was. The combination of working on my own pro...
05/15/2026

"It’s hard to imagine a place so bucolic and lovely being exciting, but it was. The combination of working on my own projects and sharing the ideas and energy of other artists was heady and validating. Thank you, VCCA."

— Dana Salisbury

Address

154 San Angelo Drive
Amherst, VA
24521

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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