Wednesday Cider

November 4, 2020
We're here with our regularly scheduled newsletter. In these days of overwhelming distraction, we're grateful for each moment you dedicate to this newsletter and the VCCA community. Thank you for reading and contributing. We have several happy announcements and invitations to share with you today.

As many of you have already learned, the fabulous Bea Booker will be moving on from VCCA after 17 years. We know you'll join us in our immense gratitude for her time with us as well as our excitement for her new beginnings.

While we all get our bearings on November: we share our newest monthly playlist; we invite you to the annual meeting of VCCA France (November 10); we announce a new deadline for Fellows Council nominations (November 20) as well as an "Ask Us Anything" session (November 11) for any Fellows who are curious about serving; and we look forward to our next Fireplace Series event (November 12).

If you have a new book being released in November, be sure to let us know so we can add it to our Bookshop page and feature it in our next newsletter.

Today, we pass along messages from three Fellows — Colleen Morton Busch, Nancy Manter, and Lynda Reeves McIntyre — who write with a story from crisis, postcard offerings/investigations, and a free film series on architecture and design.

Last month, we announced that online applications are open for in-person residencies at Mt. San Angelo in the summer of 2021. In our newsletters leading up to the January 15 application deadline, we'll focus, one at a time, on the fully-funded fellowship opportunities available during this application and scheduling cycle. Today, we tell you a bit about our fellowships supported by the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation.
fellowship focus
Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation (MAAF) Fellowships
Initiated in 2003, the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation’s Creative Fellowships Program supports fully-funded two-week or one-month VCCA residencies at Mt. San Angelo for artists from the mid-Atlantic states.

Current eligibility is for writers, visual artists, and composers from Delaware, Maryland, New York, and West Virginia. Artists who have previously received support through this program will not be considered eligible to receive another Creative Fellowship for the three years following a supported residency.

To be considered for an MAAF Fellowship for the Summer 2021 scheduling period, complete the “Application for Mt. San Angelo Residencies” by January 15, 2021. All applicants from eligible mid-Atlantic states will be considered.
preparing for a fond farewell
Bea Booker Announces Departure From VCCA
Earlier this week, longtime and beloved VCCA staff member Bea Booker announced her plans to start a new position as Community Outreach Coordinator with Amherst County Habitat for Humanity starting in January 2021.

As Executive Director Kevin O'Halloran said, "Bea has been an important part of the VCCA community since she arrived in 2003. We will miss her terribly, but we wish her all the best in her exciting new chapter."

Fellows responding to her news have used the words "magic," "treasure," and "dear" to describe Bea. We couldn't agree more.
fellow messages
Fellows, please submit a message. This is a way to tell the VCCA community about how you're navigating these times as an artist and human and to spread the word about work affected by or created during the pandemic.
Colleen Morton Busch
"I've spent most of the pandemic living a crisis within a crisis, as my father was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor in May. He died in September, one day after his Michigan mail-in ballot arrived. I'm working on several projects about the loss of my father, but The Washington Post recently published my piece about my family's deliberations over what to do with his ballot."
Colleen Morton Busch's dad's mail-in ballot
Nancy Manter
"I was having trouble focusing on my work during this COVID-19 pandemic, so I decided to send out over 100 handmade postcards to support the USPS. I am still sending them out, so if you send me your snail mail you, too, can receive one. They are Flashe on Yupo. I am particularly interested in how long the mailing takes for each destination, what kinds of marks or demarcations each card has received during transit and what shape they are in once they arrive. I have asked folks to send me an email with the image. Some cards are piled in a heap of other mail, some placed on refrigerator doors and some framed. One artist said she was going to cut it up and embed it into her work. All in a day's work for a working artist during a pandemic."
Lynda Reeves McIntyre
"Hello Hello — Still painting daily, along with dancing outside — now in polar fleece. Also, I'm curating a FREE FILM SERIES on Architecture, Art, Design and Issues of Community. Though we can not have an in person event, we can share beautiful, powerful films monthly with a worldwide audience, across time zones — a way to share joy and reinforce our global citizenship as we navigate these unusual times."

Work Affected by COVID-19

"My three European exhibitions and one residency were postponed. Time to reflect, make, refocus and edit. These are on hold until Americans are welcomed back."
november 10
VCCA France
Assemblée Générale
The annual meeting of the VCCA France association will take place virtually this year, on Tuesday, November 10, at 11 a.m. ET (5 p.m. in France).

After a business meeting led by VCCA France President Elizabeth Logan Harris, there will be performances and readings by VCCA Fellows E. Shawn Qaissaunee, Marilyn Kallet, and Lucy Anderton.

If you'd like to join, you must register in advance.
november 11
Ask Us Anything: Fellows Council Info Session
Because our original due date for Fellows Council nominations was so close to Election Day in the U.S., we've extended that deadline to November 20 to give more folks some time and space to consider the opportunity.

And, in an effort to demystify the nomination process and to welcome more interested Fellows into the fold, we're hosting an "Ask Us Anything" session via Zoom on Wednesday, November 11 at 1 p.m. ET. The session will be recorded to share with registrants who can't join in real time.

Current members of the VCCA Fellows Council, including writer Christina Chiu, filmmaker Burcu Koray, visual artist Amie Oliver, and composer E. Shawn Qaissaunee, will be available to field questions from any Fellows interested in getting involved.
fireplace series
Up Next: Join Us November 12
We'll be pleased to welcome Margaret B. Ingraham and Sharon Norwood as our next guests in the VCCA Fireplace Series.

Norwood is a conceptual artist whose work spans several media including drawing, painting, and ceramic. She was the 2019 recipient of VCCA's Jacques and Natasha Gelman Fellowship.

Ingraham is an award-winning poet and a past president of the VCCA Board of Directors. Her latest collection Exploring This Terrain was released in April 2020.

Our host for the evening will be visual artist and Fellows Council member Tanja Softić. Tune in Thursday, November 12, at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Fireplace Series 14
DATE AND TIME
11/12/20 7:30pm - 11/12/20 8:00pm

Interested? Sign up to receive an event reminder email:
Remind me!
Recap: Corvids, COVID, and Times of Plague
Many thanks to visual artist Karen Bondarchuk, composer Jack Curtis Dubowsky, writer Lenore Hart, and our host Amie Oliver for a Fireplace Series event filled with art across disciplines and wide-ranging conversation. We loved the many intersections of interests, themes, and residency experiences among this group. Recordings are available on Facebook or YouTube; go watch.
vcca composer playlist
November Playlist


  1. Paul Reisler | White Edge of Winter/At Night the Roses Tango
  2. Bruce Wolosoff | Cello Concerto
  3. Christopher Preissing | Hello Piano!
  4. Andrew Rudin | Circadia: I. Morning
  5. Daron Hagen | Koto Concerto: Genji
  6. J. Walter Hawkes | February
resources
From the Foundation for Contemporary Arts (FCA)
The Foundation for Contemporary Arts has created "a temporary fund to meet the needs of experimental artists who have been impacted by the economic fallout from postponed or canceled performances and exhibitions." Read more about their eligibility requirements.
standing invitations
Look to this comprehensive list of ways to stay virtually engaged with our creative community during VCCA's temporary closure.
Keep in Touch
🧡 Stay safe, and be well.
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