Vermont Studio Center (VSC)

For 38 years, Vermont Studio Center's (vsc) mission has been to foster creativity through community, collaboration, and quiet reflection. Over time, it has become one of the largest international artists and writers' residency programs in the united states. In 2022, coming off the heels of the pandemic, artists and writers have never been more ready for in-person collaboration and community. Vsc received a record number of applications from over 1200 visual artists and 730 writers. Vsc met this need with a hybrid return to our tried-and-true quality in-person programming and the many enhanced digital community-building strategies we used during the pandemic.after a two-year pandemic pause, in-person programming began with rescheduling residences delayed by the pandemic. Many artists and writers accepted into the program in 2020 chose to complete their residency in person later rather than online. Vsc reopened to in-person residencies in late february, offering residencies of two-, three-, and four-weeks' duration year-round, hosting 260 residents, of which 5% were international and 46% received fellowship aid. Every vsc residency was enriched with a vibrant program of readings and artists presentations by residents, including visiting artists and writers who also offer Studio visits and writers' conferences.the 2022 visiting visual artists program hosted 21 acclaimed artists: 10 virtually and 11 in person at the vsc campus. Some notable visiting artists in-person events included talks from rubens ghenov, debra priestly, william ransom, and daniela rivera. As well as two notable virtual artists' talks by the renowned anthony giocolea and karyn olivier. 2022 was also exciting for the vsc visual artists program as it received a prestigious national endowment for the arts (nea) grant to support the creative inclusion fellowship for visual artists. This project provided four fellowship awards to visual artists from the bipoc and lgbtq+ communities. Vsc's project was among 1,125 projects across america, totaling over $26.6 million selected during this second round of grants for arts projects fiscal year 2022 funding.the visiting writers program hosted 11 acclaimed writers in 2022: 7 virtually and 4 in person at the vsc campus. Each visiting writer offered featured reading and craft talks- which were free and open to the public and met individually with writers in residence during their week-long visit. An estimated 307 people attended the visiting writers' events in 2022. The visiting writers' honors included the pulitzer prize, nea grants, the donald hall poetry prize, creative capital award, among others, and their work has been featured in prominent literary journals and reviewed in the new yorker magazine. The seven (7) virtual vsc writing program events engaged 215 sign-ups. Two of the most notable virtual events hosted were of poet, paul tran and author, rebecca caroll. With the support of vsc's ongoing partnership with the rona jaffe foundation, seven (7) women-identifying visiting writers joined our community through a grant that underwrites the visting writers program.the hybrid approach offering in-person and virtual communities served vsc well in 2022. Vsc's virtual programming gave 527 artists and writers the opportunity to engage socially and collaboratively from the comfort of home over the course of 2 sessions, each 4 weeks long. Creative imperative, an online gathering space of vsc alums, hosted guest speakers and allowed an online community to foster creative connections, conversation, and inspiration funded in part by the berkshire taconic foundation and the mae private foundation.the popular "studios at vsc" program continued in 2022. This program was launched in 2021 to provide Vermont artists and writers with long-term Studio space at below-market rent on our campus on the banks of the gihon river in johnson, vt. benefits of the program include 24/7 access to private, light-filled studios, with access to shared facilities such as a sculpture shop, kiln, library, printing presses, and common spaces. The studios at vsc feeds the creative economy of Vermont, uplifts local artists, and enriches our role as an incubator for artists and writers. 2022 had 23 local artists and writers enrolled in the program, and new applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Vsc also offered Studio rentals to local Vermont artists on a full-year fellowship base and a subsidized monthly rental fee for those who qualified for financial aid.the vsc's school arts program, a partnership with the local school district, was launched in 1992 in response to budget cuts that threatened provision of art education in johnson elementary school (jes). For decades, vsc raised funds to provide jes with a full-time school arts coordinator, the primary instructor for 235 students. The program expanded to include arts education for the students of green mountain technology and career Center and lamoille union high school, a summer camp, and other community-centered activities. Resident artists at vsc have participated as volunteers, assisting in classrooms and art camps. In 2022, jes agreed to take responsibility for the program, and the vsc school arts coordinator is now a full-time school district employee. This is a remarkable story of vsc's support for arts education, helping to inspire a generation of local children. As we look to the future, vsc is exploring new ways to enrich the experience of lamoille north supervisory union students through gallery and open Studio visits with the international artists who are in residence at vsc throughout the year.in summary, in 2022, the Vermont Studio Center welcomed in-person residency programming back to campus while also providing a hybrid digital community of engagement, providing the need for connection, networking, and collaboration that is so essential to the artistic process. Vsc engaged with our local community members through artists and writers' events and used the arts to empower and enrich the arts for our next generation of artists with johnson elementary school. Vsc continues to be a driving force for the creative sector both internationally and in our home communities.