Vermont College of Fine Arts

Vermont College of Fine Arts
Type Private non-profit
Established 2008
President Thomas Christopher Greene
Academic staff
 approx. 60
Postgraduates about 380
Location Montpelier, Vermont, United States
Colors Green and white
Affiliations New England Association of Schools and Colleges
Website www.vcfa.edu

Coordinates: 44°15′19″N 72°34′3″W / 44.25528°N 72.56750°W / 44.25528; -72.56750 Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) is a graduate-level college in Montpelier, Vermont. VCFA is a national center for graduate fine arts education with a unique practice-based learning model, internationally renowned faculty, and a range of delivery models — including low residency, intensive conference retreats, and fully residential programs. VCFA educates emerging and established artists through the offering of six low residency Master of Fine Arts degrees in the following fields: Writing, Writing for Children & Young Adults, Visual Art, Music Composition, Graphic Design and Film; a residential Master of Fine Arts degree in Writing and Publishing; low residency Master of Arts in Teaching in Art and Design Education; and a low residency Master of Arts in Art and Design Education. Its faculty includes Pulitzer Prize finalists, National Book Award winners, Newbery Medal honorees, Guggenheim Fellowship and Fulbright Program fellows, and Ford Foundation grant recipients.

Academics

Vermont College of Fine Arts, Montpelier, Vermont

high-residency

The high-residency structure allows students get their graduate degrees through brief, on-campus residencies, self-designated study, flexible scheduling, and personalized attention through one-on-one guidance with a faculty mentor. The five ten-day on-campus residencies consist of workshops, lectures, readings, panel discussions, student-teacher conferences and critiques, presentations of works in progress."[1] A faculty member works with five or fewer students through written correspondence, electronic/video/telephone communication in between residencies.

All programs feature writers-in-residence, artists-in-residence, and artist/scholars who give lectures, readings, and workshops. Artists and writers-in-residence have included Jean Valentine, Richard Russo, Claudia Emerson, M. T. Anderson, Susan Cooper, Gregory Maguire, Holly Black, Jane Yolen (the inaugural writer-in-residence in the Writing for Children and Young Adults program), Wu Tsang, and Stephen Drury.

MFA in Writing

Established in 1981, the MFA in Writing Program at Vermont College of Fine Arts was one of the first low-residency programs in the country. The Atlantic named it one of the top five low-residency programs nationwide.[2] The program's 1200+ alumni/ae have published over 650 books and received nearly every literary award in the country. The MFA in Writing offers concentrations in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and translation. A dual-genre option in Writing for Children & Young Adults is available. Residency abroad options include a summer residency in Slovenia and a winter residency in Puerto Rico.

The MFA in Writing requires 2 theses: a critical thesis and a creative thesis in addition to a giving a lecture and public reading.[10] Each faculty member supervises five writers through semester-long communication. During the 10-day on-campus residencies, students participate in small, faculty-guided workshops, daily seminars, lectures, and discussions, as well as readings by faculty, graduating students, and visiting writers.

The faculty of the MFA in Writing Program have published more than 300 books and have won almost every major literary award. More than two-thirds of the faculty teach at other universities.[11]

MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults

Established in 1997, the MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults Program at Vermont College of Fine Arts was the nation's first MFA program focusing on writing for young readers. In the program students pursue studies in the writing of picture books, middle-grade or young adult literature and come to campus twice a year for 10-day residencies. After the residencies students begin faculty-guided independent-study projects. During the independent study project students are supervised and maintain a correspondence with faculty and peers.

The MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults requires 2 theses: a critical thesis and a creative thesis in addition to giving a lecture and public reading.[10] Candlewick Press, Houghton Mifflin/Clarion, and Harcourt Trade Publishers have established scholarships and prizes for students in the Writing for Children and Young Adults program.[1]

MFA in Visual Art

The Master of Fine Art in Visual Art Program at Vermont College of Fine Arts allows students to earn a 60-credit MFA degree over a period of two years through a combination of ten-day, on-campus residencies followed by six-month semesters of self-designed artistic practice. Students work in their home studios in between residencies. Whether on campus or at home, students participate in a discourse structured around their visual culture research and studio projects. Through this process of exchange, students explore their interests and make connections that help position their work within broader social, historical, and intellectual debates.

Since its founding in 1991, the MFA in Visual Art Program has been based on the principle of individualized learning. While in the program, students complete a series of interdisciplinary writing projects supervised by faculty members and pursue their studio work with guidance from local artists chosen in collaboration with the program.

The MFA in Visual Art Program’s pedagogy is based on the understanding that art does not exist in a void but within a social context, and that process is integral to the product.

MFA in Graphic Design

The MFA in Graphic Design—one of the nation’s first low-residency programs in graphic design—at Vermont College of Fine Arts educates students towards the broader context of design in order to investigate and reveal relationships, seeing Graphic Design as a social tool and design education as a process of social transformation.

In the tradition of VCFA’s graduate programs in other fields, this program requires one week of campus residence for each six-month semester and matches each student with a faculty mentor for one-on-one independent study. The MFA in Graphic Design allows design professionals to work closely with faculty who are leading practitioners in the field, students merge practice with design theory and research to expand their fluency in visual culture.

MFA in Music Composition

The MFA in Music Composition at Vermont College of Fine Arts carves out space in the lives of professional musicians and music teachers for inquiry and experimentation as well as research and critique, making room for both the exploration and the refinement of their craft. Students not only produce work but also hear and share the music they write with an engaged community of peers and faculty. Through the program’s low-residency, self-designed study model, students define their own paths in Contemporary Composition, Electronic Music, Jazz, Scoring for Media, or Songwriting, simultaneously engaged in their working lives and their artistic practice.

MFA in Film

The MFA in Film at Vermont College of Fine Arts is uniquely designed for independent filmmakers and screenwriters, who wish to refine their craft, develop a body of work, explore new approaches and technologies, and build professional relationships through an individualized curriculum. The program focuses on three distinct modes of film: narrative, documentary, and animation, emphasizing the strategic use of affordable emerging technologies. Each student gains aptitude in the disciplines of screen writing, producing, directing, editing, sound design and recording, lighting, camera operation and cinematography, and will have mastered one or more of these disciplines. Students collaborate on some projects and work independently on others.

MFA in Writing & Publishing

On April 23, 2014, VCFA announced the acquisition of the former Master of Professional Writing from the University of Southern California to begin enrolling full-time graduate students for fall 2015.[3] Writer Trinie Dalton, a faculty member at both VCFA and USC, will be the first program director. Building on VCFA’s long tradition of excellence as a top graduate college for arts education, the MFA in Writing & Publishing now combines the best of VCFA and USC to create a two-year residential MFA program focused on artistic innovation, industry-facing pedagogy, cross-discipline and cross-genre opportunities, and a diverse and renowned faculty with multi-genre publishing experience.

Graduate Studies in Art & Design Education

The department of Graduate Studies in Art & Design Education at VCFA houses the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) and Master of Arts in Art & Design Education (MAADE) degrees, as well as Professional Development programs for practicing educators and administrators. The programs are specific to the needs of arts educators in the 21st century. They offer a rigorous course of study that connects students with leading educators and mentors in the field. VCFA’s MAT/MAADE programs incorporate summer residencies on the historic VCFA campus with fall and spring semesters in our students’ home communities. Professional Development offerings are available during our summer residencies and throughout the academic year. Students in the programs are artists and designers who want to teach PK-12 students, or they are PK-12 art and design teachers interested in advancing their practice. The students have diverse artistic backgrounds—from graphics, web design, film, industrial design, furniture design, and architecture, to more traditional and experimental visual and fine arts disciplines. What the students have in common is a deep desire to educate, a belief in the transformative power of the arts, and the need for flexibility to stay in their home environment while they progress academically and professionally, building personal, local, and national communities that continue to thrive well beyond graduation.

History

The focus of Vermont College has changed since its beginnings as Newbury Seminary in 1831. After existing in several forms including a Wesleyan Seminary and a Methodist Seminary, it became Vermont Junior College in 1941.[1] In 1958 it became Vermont College. In 1972 Vermont College merged with Norwich University; the two schools became fully integrated in 1993. Union Institute acquired Vermont College in 2001. The Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in writing program was established in 1981 and the MFA in visual art in 1991. The MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults, the first "MFA program in writing for young readers," began in January 1997. In 2008 Vermont College of Fine Arts became an independent fine arts institution.[1] In 2011 it launched an MFA program in Music Composition and one in Graphic Design[4] The MFA in Film program was established in 2013. In 2014 the MFA in Writing and Publishing, and the MAT/MA in Art & Design Education were established with first classes starting in 2015.

College Hall, the central building on campus, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was completed in 1872 and includes a two-story high chapel and a pipe organ from 1884.[5]

People

Student profile

The average student age is 35 years old. Students live all over the world and continue working in their current careers while attending Vermont.

Faculty profile

Approximately 60 authors and artists teach at Vermont College. All have terminal degrees in their specialty.[1]

MFA in Writing Faculty Awards
Name Award Book Year
Rigoberto González Shelley Memorial Award[6] 2011
David Wojahn O. B. Hardison, Jr. Poetry Prize[6] poet's teaching and art 2007
Jean Valentine National Book Award[7] Door In the Mountain 2004
Diane Lefer Mary McCarthy Prize for Short Fiction[8] California Transit 2005
Sascha Feinstein Pennsylvania's Governor's Award for Artist of the Year 2008
Sascha Feinstein Hayden Carruth Award poetry collection Misterioso 2008
David Wojahn O. B. Hardison, Jr. Poetry Prize[6] poet's teaching and art 2007
Douglas Glover Governor-General's Award for Fiction Elle 2003
Douglas Glover Writers' Trust of Canada Timothy Findley Award 2006
David Wojahn The Carole Weinstein Prize in Poetry 2008
David Wojahn Pulitzer Prize finalist Interrogation Palace: New and Selected Poems 1982–2004 2007
David Wojahn O. B. Hardison Award from the Folger Shakespeare Library 2007
Natasha Sajé Fulbright fellowship
Natasha Sajé Robert Winner and Alice Fay di Castagnola Awards from the Poetry Society of America
Natasha Sajé Campbell Corner Poetry Prize
Betsy Sholl Poet Laureate of Maine 2009
Domenic Stansberry Edgar Award Best Paperback Original The Confession 2005
Mary Ruefle National Endowment for the Arts fellowship
Mary Ruefle Whiting Award
Mary Ruefle Guggenheim Fellowship 2002
Mary Ruefle Award in Literature from The American Academy of Arts and Letters
Robin Hemley Pushcart Prize "The Big Ear" 1994
Robin Hemley Pushcart Prize "Installations" 1990
Robin Hemley First Prize Nelson Algren Award for Fiction from The Chicago Tribune 1996
Robin Hemley Editor's Choice Award for Nonfiction from The American Library Association. Invented Eden 2003
Robin Hemley Guggenheim Fellowship 2008
Xu Xi O. Henry Prize Story Collection, shortlist for the inaugural Man Asian Literary Prize 2006
Xu Xi New York State fiction fellowship
Xu Xi Ploughshares Cohen Award 2005
MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults Faculty Awards
Name Award Book Year
Kathi Appelt National Book Award finalist The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp 2013
Franny Billingsley National Book Award Finalist[9] Chime 2011
A.S. King Michael L. Printz Award Honor Please Ignore Vera Dietz 2011
Tim Wynne-Jones Boston Globe – Horn Book Award[10] Blink & Caution 2011
Franny Billingsley Boston Globe – Horn Book Honor[10] Chime 2011
Rita Williams-Garcia Newbery Honor[11] One Crazy Summer 2011
Rita Williams-Garcia Coretta Scott King Award winner[12] One Crazy Summer 2011
Rita Williams-Garcia NAACP Image Award finalist[13] One Crazy Summer 2011
Rita Williams-Garcia National Book Award Finalist[14] One Crazy Summer 2010
Rita Williams-Garcia National Book Award Finalist[15] Jumped 2009
Tim Wynne-Jones Governor General’s Literary Award Finalist[16] The Uninvited 2009
Kathi Appelt PEN Award The Underneath 2009
Kathi Appelt Newbery Honor Book[11] The Underneath 2009
Shelley Tanaka Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children[17] Amelia Earhart: The Legend of the Lost Aviator 2009
Kathi Appelt National Book Award finalist The Underneath 2008
A. M. Jenkins Printz Honor Book Repossessed 2008
Laura McGee Kvasnosky Theodor Seuss Geisel Award Zelda and Ivy: The Runaways 2007
Tim Wynne-Jones Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor Book[18] Rex Zero and the End of the World 2007
Sarah Ellis TD Canadian Children's Literature Award[19] Odd Man Out 2007
Cynthia Leitich Smith National Book Festival book[20] Tantalize 2007
Martine Leavitt National Book Award finalist[21] Keturah and Lord Death 2006
Julie Larios Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor Book[22] Yellow Elephant 2006
Julie Larios Pushcart Prize and Academy of American Poets Prize Poetry
Leda Schubert NY Times Editor's Choice[23] Ballet of the Elephants 2006
Margaret Bechard ALA Best Books for Young Adults[24][25] Spacer and Rat 2006
Sharon Darrow Junior Library Guild selection[26] Trash 2006
Uma Krishnaswami Notable Book for a Global Society--International Reading Association[27] Naming Maya 2005
Kathi Appelt PEN finalist in Children's literature[28] My Father's Summers 2005
Rita Williams-Garcia ALA Best Books for Young Adults[29] No Laughter Here 2005
Margaret Bechard School Library Journal Best Book of the Year designation, and ALA Best Books for Young Adults[30][31] Hanging onto Max 2003
An Na Michael L. Printz Award[32] A Step From Heaven 2002
An Na Children's Book Award in YA Fiction-International Reading Association[32] A Step From Heaven 2002
An Na National Book Award Finalist[32] A Step From Heaven 2001
Franny Billingsley Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor Book[33] The Folk Keeper 2000
Franny Billingsley The Mythopoeic Fantasy Award[33] The Folk Keeper 2000
Ellen Howard Christopher Award (Canadian)[34] The Log Cabin Quilt 1997
Tim Wynne-Jones Governor General's Award (Canada)[35] The Maestro 1995
Tim Wynne-Jones Governor General's Award (Canada)[35] Some of the Kinder Planets 1993
Sarah Ellis Governor General's Award (Canada)[35] Pick-Up Sticks 1991
Marion Dane Bauer Newbery Honor Award[36] On My Honor 1987
MFA in Visual Art Faculty Awards
Name Award Book Year
Ashley Hunt BAK Center for Contemporary Arts, Research-In-Residence, Utrecht, NL 2008
Ashley Hunt Ford Foundation Social Justice Grant for Independent Media Production Documentary: Close Tallulah Now! 2002
Ashley Hunt New York Foundation for the Arts, Swing Space Fellowship 2007
Ashley Hunt Ford Foundation Social Justice Grant for Independent Media Production Documentary: Close Tallulah Now! 2002
Ashley Hunt Fellow of the Vera List Center for Art & Politics 2011
David Deitcher Creative Capital/Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant recipient. 2006–2007
David Deitcher Lambda Literary Award Book: Dear Friends: American Photographs of Men Together, 1840–1918 2001
David Deitcher Canada Council, Independent Critics and Curator Award 2004–2005
David Deitcher Canada Council, Independent Critics and Curator Award 2006–2007
David Deitcher Fellow Swann Foundation for Cartoon and Caricature 1982
Don't Rhine Mid-Career Artist Award: California Community Foundation, Los Angeles 2007
Don't Rhine Individual Research Residency: Interface Centre, University of Ulster, Belfast 2006
Don't Rhine Individual Studio Residency: Banff Centre for the Arts, Alberta, Canada 2005
Faith Wilding Guggenheim Foundation Fellow 2009
Faith Wilding Creative Capital Emerging Fields Grant (with subrosa) 2004–2006
Lana Lin New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship 2001
Lana Lin Fulbright Foundation Fellowship 2003–2004
Lana Lin Jerome Foundation Media Arts Grant 1996
Marie Shurkus Doctoral Award of Excellence, Graduate Fellowship, Concordia University, Montreal 2001–2003
Marie Shurkus Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Pomona College 2007–2009
Michael Minelli Wexner Center for the Arts Commission Exhibition: Shiny 2006
Sowon Kwon Book: Dear Friends: American Photographs of Men Together, 1840–1918 2005
Sowon Kwon New York Foundation for the Arts in Sculpture 1995

Alumni

Alumni and students are published with major publishing houses. They work as "librarians, editors, freelance writers, teachers, directors of arts organizations, illustrators, and publishers."[37]

Alumni Awards
Name Award Work Year
Elizabeth Powell Anhinga Press Winner Robert Dana-Anhinga Prize [38] Literature 2015
Allison Adelle Hedge Coke Native Writers' Circle of the Americas Winner, Lifetime Achievement Award[39] Literature 2015
Allison Adelle Hedge Coke Wordcraft Circle Winner Wordcrafter of the Year Award, Writer of the Year Awards (x3), Editor of the Year Awards (x2), Mentor of the Year Award [40] Literature 2015
LeAnne Howe Native Writers' Circle of the Americas Winner[41] Literature 2012
LeAnne Howe Ford Foundation Fellowship [42] Literature 2012
Debby Dahl Edwardson National Book Award Finalist[43] My Name Is Not Easy 2011
Kekla Magoon Nominee NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work Youth/Teens[44] The Rock and the River 2010
Kekla Magoon Coretta Scott King Award John Steptoe New Talent Author Award[45] The Rock and the River 2010
Sundee T. Frazier Coretta Scott King Award John Steptoe New Talent Author Award[46] Brendan Buckley's Universe and Everything in It 2008
April Pulley Sayre Geisel Honor Book Award[47] Vulture View 2008
Ann Parr National Council of Social Studies Honor Award for ethnicity[48] Gordon Parks: No Excuses 2007
Robin Oliveira James Jones First Novel Fellowship[49] My Name is Mary Sutter 2007
Martine Leavitt National Book Award finalist[21] Keturah and Lord Death 2006
Stephanie Greene ALA Notable Book[50] Queen Sophie Hartley 2006
Deborah Wiles National Book Award finalist[51] Each Little Bird That Sings 2005
Ed Briant Publishers Weekly Flying Start[52] Paper Parade 2004
An Na Printz Award[53] A Step From Heaven 2002
Deborah Wiles Coretta Scott King Award John Steptoe New Talent Author Award[54] Freedom Summer 2002

Notable alumni

Notable alumni of the program include:

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Vermont College of Fine Arts, Progress Report: January 2007-January 2008 (Montpelier., Vermont, 2008)
  2. ↑ http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2007/08/the-best-of-the-best/306049/
  3. ↑ Press Release
  4. ↑ College Hall
  5. ↑ "New Programs: Dance, Nursing, Fine Arts". Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 <http://www.poetrysociety.org/psa/awards/frost_and_shelley/shelley_winners/2011a
  7. ↑ The National Book Foundation
  8. ↑ Sarabande Books - Prize Winners
  9. ↑ "Franny Billingsley, Chime - National Book Award YPL Finalist, The National Book Foundation". Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  10. 1 2 http://www.hbook.com/bghb/current.asp
  11. 1 2 "Welcome to the Newbery Medal Home Page!". Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  12. ↑ "Coretta Scott King Book Award Recipients". Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  13. ↑ "Literature - Nominees and Winners- The 45th NAACP Image Awards Show". Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  14. ↑ "2010 National Book Awards, National Book Foundation, Presenter of the National Book Awards". Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  15. ↑ "2009 National Book Awards Winners and Finalists, The National Book Foundation". Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  16. ↑ http://www.canadacouncil.ca/news/releases/2009/wi128999467161854957.htm
  17. ↑ "NCTE Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children". Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  18. ↑ Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards
  19. ↑ CCBC | News and Events | Winners Announced for $53,500 Canadian Children's Book Centre Awards
  20. ↑ Authors - 2007 National Book Festival (Library of Congress)
  21. 1 2 The National Book Foundation
  22. ↑ Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards
  23. ↑ 'Ballet of the Elephants,' by Leda Schubert - The New York Times Book Review - New York Times
  24. ↑ ALA | 2006 Best Books for Young Adults
  25. ↑ Margaret Bechard (1953-) Biography - Personal, Career, Member, Honors Awards, Writings, Sidelights
  26. ↑ http://archive.is/20130103150426/http://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/ pdfs/06F_FA.pdf+%22Sharon+Darrow%22+junior+library&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us&client=firefox-a
  27. ↑ "IRA Children's Literature and Reading SIG Projects - NBGS 2005 List - Multicultural Literature". Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  28. ↑ PEN Center USA | 2005 Literary Awards Winners
  29. ↑ ALA | 2005 Best Books for Young Adults
  30. ↑ ALA | 2003 Best Books for Young Adults
  31. ↑ ALA | 2003 Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
  32. 1 2 3 "Awards: A Step from Heaven by An Na". Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  33. 1 2 Franny Billingsley
  34. ↑ Christopher Awards - Books for Young People
  35. 1 2 3 Governor-General's Awards for Children's Literature
  36. ↑ ALA | Newbery Medal & Honor Books, 1922-Present
  37. ↑ Vermont College of Fine Arts
  38. ↑ http://www.jsc.edu/news/story/professor-wins-top-poetry-award
  39. ↑ http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/allison-adelle-hedge-coke
  40. ↑ http://www.wordcraftcircle.org/honors-awards/
  41. ↑ http://www.ais.illinois.edu/news/current/howe_award.html
  42. ↑ "LeAnne Howe". Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  43. ↑ "Debby Dahl Edwardson, My Name Is Not Easy - National Book Award YPL Finalist, The National Book Foundation". Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  44. ↑ "Nominees & Winners". Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  45. ↑ "John Steptoe New Talent Award". Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  46. ↑ ALA | Coretta Scott King Book Award
  47. ↑ ALA | 2008 Media Award Winners
  48. ↑ "Carter G. Woodson Book Awards". National Council for the Social Studies. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  49. ↑ "Links Concerning Our Contribution to Modern Literature: The James Jones First Novel Fellowship". Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  50. ↑ ALA | 2006 Notable Children's Books
  51. ↑ The National Book Foundation
  52. ↑ Flying Starts - 6/28/2004 - Publishers Weekly
  53. ↑ ALA | 2002 Michael L. Printz Award Winner
  54. ↑ ALA | Coretta Scott King Book Award

External links

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