VCCA fully-funded fellowships: Wachtmeister Award for Interdisciplinary Visual Artists 2027

Name: VCCA fully-funded fellowships: Wachtmeister Award for Interdisciplinary Visual Artists 2027
Start: 2026/02/01
End: 2026/05/15
Location: United States

Organizer Information

The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA) is one of the world’s leading artists' communities, located at Mt. San Angelo in Amherst, Virginia. The Wachtmeister Award is a prestigious biennial honor endowed by VCCA Fellow and Board member Linda Wachtmeister and administered by the VCCA Fellows Council. It acknowledges the vital role of the arts by providing excellence-driven artists with the necessary time and space for creative exploration in a supportive community of more than 20 cross-disciplinary residents.

Title & Description

2027 Wachtmeister Award.

This award is presented every two years in rotation to a prominent writer, visual artist, or composer. For the 2027 cycle, the award is dedicated to an interdisciplinary visual artist whose contemporary practice engages cultural traditions of craft and pushes the boundaries of both traditional and nontraditional materials. The program seeks artists whose work explores the relationship between materiality and space, merging tactile processes with physical and cultural contexts.

Eligibility

Applicants must be interdisciplinary visual artists who have never been in residence at VCCA.
Must have worked professionally for at least 15 years.
Must demonstrate substantial national or international achievement (exhibitions, grants, publications, etc.).
International artists are eligible to apply.
Artists of all backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

Program Benefits & Awards

Residency: A fully-funded VCCA residency of up to 30 days at Mt. San Angelo.
Honorarium: A $1,000 cash honorarium.
Stipend: A $750 travel stipend.
Accommodations: Private bedroom with en-suite bath, an individual studio, and three prepared meals daily.

Application Fee:

There is no application fee for the Wachtmeister Award.

Application Requirements:

Personal Info: A completed application form and a third-person professional paragraph.
CV: A full, updated Curriculum Vitae.
Portfolio: Up to 4 images and/or videos of work completed within the past 6 years.
Media Guidelines: Total video/audio submission must not exceed 10 minutes. Linked media (Vimeo, YouTube, SoundCloud) must be public and allow embedding.
Language: All materials must be submitted in English.

How to Apply:

Applications must be submitted through the official portal. Applicants must ensure all media files meet the size limits (Images up to 5MB, PDFs up to 10MB, Video up to 250MB).

Key Dates:

Application Window: February 1 – May 15, 2026.
Application Deadline: May 15, 2026.
Notification: By December 1, 2026.
Residency Period: To be scheduled between May 1, 2027, and August 31, 2028.

Location

Mt. San Angelo, Amherst, Virginia, USA.

Additional Details

This award is specifically designed to recognize "prominent" artists with a significant track record of achievement. Because it is a "safe-to-fail" environment, the residency focuses on the creative phase rather than a finished product. If applying for collaborative work, the applicant's specific contribution must be clearly described.