Art + Connection

This year our annual Spring for VCFA event, Art + Connection, will feature a series of readings, performances, screenings, conversations, and more from May 19 – June 6. Recognizing the many ways the arts sustain and propel us forward, this spring we celebrate our VCFA community and the power of the arts to inspire continued resilience, healing, inspiration, and change.

Art + Connection Events

Over the course of three weeks, we will host several events to celebrate VCFA programs, students, faculty, alumnx, and friends and help launch a new year of lectures, visiting artists series, enrichment programming, and direct scholarship support for our students. Events will include opportunities to support VCFA and help us fulfill our commitment to the arts as an agent for social change.

The VCFA Auction

Additionally, we are excited to once again host an online professional development auction offering manuscript reviews, agent/editor critiques, professional career advice, future stays on the VCFA campus, and more.

Meanwhile, don’t miss any updates! Visit the Art + Connection website and click “Sign In” on the upper right-hand area of the page to register. You’ll receive updates as we announce the schedule, open the auction, and kick off our events at 11 am ET on May 19. Registration will ensure that you receive updates as we make new events and content available.

Sponsorship opportunities for Art + Connection events are available. Please contact Jericho Parms for details and to learn more about ways to give during the spring event.

Schedule of Events

(All content will be available on the “Art + Connection” site at 11 am ET each day.)

MAY 19

AUCTION OPENS at 11 am ET!

Reading/Conversation: Ibi Zoboi & Kekla Magoon

Kekla Magoon (WCYA ’05) and Ibi Zoboi (WCYA ’14), both VCFA alumnx and award-winning authors, read from their recent and upcoming books and discuss their connection to community, art, and social justice.

MAY 21

Conversation: Kim Cosier & William Estrada

Kim Cosier, founding faculty member of VCFA’s Art & Design Education program, and visiting artist William Estrada present on their latest projects, discuss their work as artists and activists, and reflect on the importance of community.

MAY 26

Reading: HERE—Poems for the Planet

Elizabeth J. Coleman (W ’12), poet and editor, hosts a reading from the anthology HERE: Poems for the Planet featuring VCFA faculty, alumnx, and friends Francisco Aragón, Nickole Brown (W ’03), Kyle Dargan, Richard Jackson, Natasha Sajé, and Betsy Sholl.

Reading: STEM Picture Book Hour

VCFA alumnx read from their recent picture books that center science, the environment, and a love of the natural world and instill a sense of wonder for young readers. Featured readers include Evan Griffith, JoAnn Early Macken, Sandra Nickel, Larissa Theule, Constance Van Hoven, and Dianne White.

MAY 28

Presentation/Performance: The Walt Whitman Songbook

Craig Pallett (MC ’15) presents his Walt Whitman Songbook featuring performances and conversations with fellow Music Composition alumnx including Dawn Clement (MC ’15), Jessica Muñiz-Collado (MC ’14), Marjorie Halloran (MC ’15), Mario Inchausti (MC ’18), Philip W. Riegle (MC ’17), Peter Spencer (MC ’13), and Michael Garrett Steele (MC ’16), as well as special guests Steve Bartek, David Crigger, and Leon Gaer.

Performance: Sarah LeMieux & Friends

Sarah LeMieux (MC ’19) shares a set of new works by VCFA composers Devin Barone (MC ’20), Julian Gerstin (MC ’20), Ben Lieberman (MC ’19), and others created over the course of the pandemic year.

JUNE 2

Presentation: Graphic Design Global Studio Sessions

Get a glimpse into the practices and realities of designers based in Africa and Asia with these two sets of microlectures and Q&A sessions. You’ll hear from Ngadi Smart (Abidjan/London), Jamal Nxedlana (Johannesburg), Malick Kebe (Abidjan), James Chae (Seoul), Kaitlin Chan (Hong Kong), and Sakura Nomiyama (Tokyo), with Q&A sessions moderated by MFA in Graphic Design faculty members Ian Lynam and Sereina Rothenberger.

JUNE 4

Reading/Conversation: Dana Walrath & Jennifer Skinder

VCFA alumnx and award-winning author, artist, and anthropologist Dana Walrath (W ’10) will read from her work in progress, The Book of Genocides. Jennifer Skinder, Director of VCFA’s Center for Arts & Social Justice, will join Dana in discussion.

June 6

AUCTION CLOSES at 11:59 pm ET!