Good News #1

Today I was accepted into the Virginia Center for the Creative Artsresidency program to spend two weeks among a colony of other artists. I will study and write lyric essays during my time there, while enjoying three meals a day in a private studio. Evening activities and beautiful surroundings bring artists together or community as desired, while private studios provide freedom from distraction and day-to-day obligations.

Here’s an excerpt from their website that is none too intimidating:
“The artists who come to the VCCA produce some of the most important artworks in the country. The high quality of VCCA Fellows is demonstrated by the level of their achievement. Among our Fellows are recipients of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Academy in Rome, the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, as well as winners of National Book Awards, Pulitzer Prizes, and MacArthur genius awards. More than 3,000 artists have benefited from residencies at the VCCA over the years, making it, in the words of one of our Fellows, ‘one of the most important sources of art in the world.’”

Here’s the catch: I’m slated to go in September after all the Lost Crossings events. The Admissions Office told me today that if I accept a job that takes me elsewhere, I can still accept my residency, just at a different time.

As one of my favorite writing teachers would say: Onward and upward!