Vermont College of Fine Arts

Vermont College of Fine Arts
Type	Private art school
Established	1831; 193 years ago;; independent fine arts institution in 2008
President	Andrew Ramsammy
Academic staff	approx. 60
Postgraduates	about 380
Location	Montpelier, Vermont, United States; 44°15′19″N 72°34′3″W / 44.25528°N 72.56750°W
Colors	Green and white
Affiliations	New England Commission of Higher Education
Website	vcfa.edu

Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) is a private graduate-level art school in Montpelier, Vermont. It offers Master's degrees in a low-residency format. Its faculty includes Pulitzer Prize finalists, National Book Award winners, Newbery Medal honorees, Guggenheim Fellowship and Fulbright Program fellows, and Ford Foundation grant recipients. The literary magazine Hunger Mountain is operated by VCFA writing faculty and students.

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, using the name Montpelier Seminary,^[1] it became Vermont Junior College in 1941.^[2] In 1958, it became Vermont College. In 1972, Vermont College merged with Norwich University.^[3] Union Institute & University acquired Vermont College in 2001. In 2008, the MFA programs separated from Union Institute & University, and Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) was formed as an independent institution.^[2]

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.^[4]

On June 15, 2022, the college announced they were moving the 9-day summer residencies to Colorado College, with the 9-day winter residences to happen at Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania.^[5] Five buildings on the Montpelier campus were sold in 2023 to the Greenway Center for Equity and Sustainability, who began operating an engineering campus for students of Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania that fall.^[6] The special education school The New School of Montpelier and a local physical therapist have bought other buildings.

In January 2024, media reported that the college was looking for a long-term partner who could provide a home for the two annual 9-day residencies that are part of all of VCFA's academic programs.^[7] In April 2024, VCFA began a long-term affiliation with the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), which will host its residences on the CalArts campus near Los Angeles beginning in January of 2025.^[8]

Academics

College Hall

Gary Library

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, Andrew Blauvelt, Susan Cooper, Meredith Davis, Gregory Maguire, Holly Black, Jane Yolen, Wu Tsang, and Stephen Drury.

Approximately 60 authors, designers, filmmakers, composers, artists, and scholars teach at Vermont College of Fine Arts. All have terminal degrees in their specialty.^[2]

Programs

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 & Young Adults, the first "MFA program in writing for young readers," began in January 1997. In 2011, it launched an MFA in Music Composition program and an MFA in Graphic Design program^[9] The MFA in Film program was established in 2013. In 2014, the residential MFA in Writing and Publishing began, and the Graduate Studies in Art & Design Education Program was established in 2015. The newest program is the International MFA in Creative Writing & Literary Translation, which enrolled its first students in 2018.

Low-residency

In the low-residency structure, students earn 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 on-campus residencies consist of workshops, lectures, readings, panel discussions, student-teacher conferences and critiques, and presentations of works in progress."^[2] A faculty member works with five or fewer students through written correspondence and electronic/video/telephone communication in between residencies.

Notable alumni