Fundraising Priorities
At VCFA, our top priority is always our community of artists and learners. We are committed to stewarding your investment to significantly impact student success through support for scholarships, academic programs, lifelong engagement, and art and social justice initiatives.
VCFA Annual Fund
Gifts to the VCFA Annual Fund are a powerful way to help sustain Vermont College of Fine Arts for the future, supporting the college’s ongoing operations and addressing our institution’s highest needs. Contributions to the annual fund directly support academic program operations, outstanding faculty, financial aid for students, and the resources and technology needed to deliver our unique and innovative educational experience.
The Fund supports the current fiscal year from July 1 to June 30.
The Artists Development Fund
Over 70% of students at VCFA rely on scholarships to meet the cost of tuition. While VCFA is committed to keeping our programs one of the best values among low-residency options, many students would only be able to attend with the generous support of gifts to our scholarship funds.
The Artists Development Fund grew from VCFA’s commitment to embracing emerging artists and inspiring them to transform their work and career. Through this annually growing investment fund, we aim to raise millions to support scholarships that benefit a diverse range of students in all six of our graduate programs.
Your gift in support of The Artists Development Fund has a profound impact on our ability to serve emerging artists and empower more students to seek creative expression through the arts, providing them with the means to develop their passions, expand their practice, strengthen their networks, and transform their work and careers.
To learn more about The Artists Development Fund or if you’re interested in supporting student scholarships through a multi-year commitment, contact the Office of Institutional Advancement: [email protected].
Program Support
Program Scholarships
VCFA offers a range of program-specific scholarships that are supported and sustained by the generosity of alumnx and friends of the college. Like the Artists Development Fund, gifts to program scholarships provide vital support to new and returning VCFA students based on need and merit. You can direct your gift toward a particular program scholarship via the online donation form. To learn more about the scholarships offered in each program, contact the Office of Institutional Advancement: [email protected].
The Rita Williams-Garcia Scholarship Fund
The Rita Williams-Garcia Scholarship Fund has been established as a restricted endowment to provide tuition support for BIPOC writers (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) in the MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program. In recognition of her countless contributions to both children’s and young adult literature and to the heart of VCFA, program faculty named this scholarship in honor of Rita Williams-Garcia, who served as a faculty member in the VCFA MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults program from 2005–2015 and continues to inspire this community through her work. Gifts to this fund help advance VCFA’s commitment to equity and empowerment by enabling us to better recruit, enroll, and support BIPOC students who expand the range of voices in the WCYA program. VCFA is raising funds to match an anonymous gift of $50K that helped establish this scholarship fund.
Katherine Paterson Endowed Chair and Development Fund
Named for the beloved author and longstanding trustee, VCFA established the Katherine Paterson Endowed Chair and Development Fund in 2018 as a fundraising initiative to create an endowed faculty chair and a faculty development fund in our MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults (WCYA).
Katherine Paterson’s work has impacted countless people of all ages worldwide. To honor her contributions to both the field of writing for children and young adults and to VCFA, we feel it is only fitting to create an endowed faculty position that will profoundly impact the future writers of this field.
The Faculty Development Fund allows faculty members to attend national and international conferences, retreats, and other events to continue to grow as writers and educators.
The Center for Arts + Social Justice
Grounded in the belief that the arts empower humanity to imagine, design, and create a more just world, The Center for Arts + Social Justice is building an ecosystem of artists and storytellers working to change the dominant narrative and inspire new realities. The Center envisions a society that honors creative expression for its ability to reveal our complex histories. The Center also supports artists in their efforts to pave the path toward a more equitable future. Seeking to expand the landscape of activism, the Center will amplify inclusive, innovative visions of community-based change through the arts.
Gifts designated for the Center for Arts + Social Justice Center directly support the Center’s public event series, Center-sponsored residency guests, and the Center’s Fellowship Program, established to provide support for students whose work shows a commitment to social justice; to celebrate and highlight that work, and to create a networking opportunity for recipients.
(featured image by Rosemary Rae, GD ’18)