Southern California’s Newest MFA
VCFA is California’s newest MFA program.
By Andrew Ramsammy, President
Sept 16th, 2025
Allow us to introduce ourselves: we are VCFA— Southern California’s newest MFA program. Although we’re new to the West Coast, we’ve got decades of experience and a reputation for excellence.
Here’s what you need to know about us:
- Our twice-a-year nine-day low-residency format means we’re a fit for even the busiest lifestyle
- In fact, our two writing programs offer fully parallel cloud/virtual/remote residency options for students with access barriers (disability, caregiving, geography, etc.)
- We offer an MFA personalized to you and where you are right now in your arts journey
- We’ve got decades of experience, with stellar faculty and alumnx to prove it
- We’re the newest affiliate of your long-trusted neighbor: the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts)
How We Became Southern California’s Newest MFA
VCFA’s story is one rooted in a passion for the arts.
In fact, that same passion helped inspire our move from Vermont to California.
Our history dates back to 1834, culminating in the school we know and love, Vermont College of Fine Arts, in 2008. For years we called a historical campus on a hilltop in Montpelier home. But for all that we loved about our hilltop, the campus only had the capacity to host just one of our six MFA programs at a time.
Our six MFA programs:
- MFA in Film
- MFA in Graphic Design
- MFA in Music Composition
- MFA in Visual Arts
- MFA in Writing
- MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults
Hosting each program separately seemed to us like a missed opportunity.
We asked ourselves, what would happen if we brought all six of our programs into one space?
What sort of creative inspiration would grow if we could rub elbows and share ideas—across artistic disciplines?
After four semesters sequestered at home due to COVID, we knew that, as corny as it sounds, home is where the heart is. In other words, if we could learn and grow over zoom, we could thrive no matter where our campus was located.
That’s how we landed at CalArts, a school that understands and supports our passion for the arts.
We are grateful to be affiliated with a leading arts institute in California because of the physical space we are now in, the artists and visionaries we have access to now, the ease of getting into and out of California, the weather in both January and late June/early July when we gather for residency, and for being a small (but growing) part of the incredible California creative community.
VCFA’s low-residency model means you don’t have to stop your life to chase your dreams.
Our Low-Residency Model
Since our inception, VCFA has refined our low-residency model. We use it because we know it works.
Here’s a breakdown of everything you need to know:
- Many of our students have full-time jobs, are full-time caregivers, or have other commitments that make moving to a residential campus for two years impossible.
- Twice a year, students and faculty convene on campus for a nine-day residency. Those nine days are filled with lectures, workshops, performances, critiques, exhibitions, readings, and more.
- The rest of your six-month semester is spent at home, where you work through your individualized study plan under the guidance of your faculty advisor.
Our model means you never have to push pause on your life.
Community, context, and geography are central to inquiry, and our low-residency model allows for art to emerge wherever students are rooted.
What our programs allow you to do, unlike virtually any other, is to have an impact in your community right now. Rather than going somewhere else for two years, you can take the knowledge you learn with us and stay where you are and make a difference immediately, even before your degree is complete.
Intimate Learning Experience
Although we now call California home, and our administrative office remains in Vermont, we have not given up our Vermont roots—roots that emphasize connection, community, and heart. What we learned in Vermont is baked right into our educational model.
Imagine:
- residencies spent sharing meals with faculty and new friends
- meeting artists in other fields and exploring artistic collaboration possibilities
- late-night discussions about craft
- ghost tours
- film screenings
- pop-up musical performances
- spoken word events.
And when you aren’t at residency, you’re working one-on-one with an advisor who comes to deeply know you and your art, and exactly the things you might need to take your practice to the next level.
Studying at VCFA is a time of incredible learning—and community.
Every student begins the program with a cohort of peers. This is the cohort you’ll study with and graduate with. But while cohorts are intimate, there’s no limit on the learning we do at VCFA.
You can push yourself here; try new things and test the boundaries of your art.
Although VCFA is Southern California’s newest MFA, we have decades of experience in teaching the arts.
Interdisciplinary Opportunities
Our move has allowed us to begin building a model where collaboration across disciplines is not occasional but designed into the residency DNA.
We’ve already begun our interdisciplinary programming into our residencies, but starting with our January 2026 residency, we’ll be dedicating a full day to it for all programs. We call it our “Winter Interdisciplinary Day,” launched as both a learning experience and a preview of our continuously reimagined residency model—more efficient, impactful, and intentionally interdisciplinary.
Decades of Experience
As Southern California’s newest MFA program, we have decades of knowledge we’re eager to share.
All of our programs are over a decade old:
- Writing (est. 1981)
- Visual Art (est. 1991)
- Writing for Children & Young Adults (est. 1997)
- Music Composition (est. 2011)
- Graphic Design (est. 2011)
- Film (est. 2013)
Our alumnx community is also proof of our world-class education.
We are proud to say our alumnx are now editors, agents, producers, directors, award-winning artists, incredible educators, published authors, renowned performers, and more.
Although we have years of expertise, that doesn’t mean we’re set in our ways.
As our move to California has proven, we’re dedicated to growing and changing with the times—and making sure we’re always ready to meet the needs of our students.
Our programs prepare students to create with purpose—to intervene, engage, and transform the world around them, because creative expression is a public act.
Your New Neighbor
As the newest affiliate of CalArts, we’re thrilled to call California home—and to be your new neighbor.
We’re excited to see where the combined educational power of our two institutions will take our MFA programs.
Reach out, say hello, and if you’re up for it, come grow with us.
Andrew Ramsammy, President
VCFA
Andrew Ramsammy is a highly accomplished creative professional and advocate who has long demonstrated his dedication to VCFA’s mission, having served on its board since 2021.
He is a multiple Emmy Award winner with more than 25 years of global experience in creative, content, and production, and has committed much of his career to expanding diversity, equity, and inclusion within the field of journalism.
He’s a drama graduate of NYC’s LaGuardia High School, a film graduate of the School of Visual Arts, and he was a 2022 Sulzberger Fellow at the Columbia Journalism School.