Vermont College of Fine Arts

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Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) is a private graduate-level college affiliated with California Institute of the Arts. It offers a Master of Fine Arts degree with six different concentrations in a low-residency format.^[1] The literary magazine Hunger Mountain is operated by VCFA writing faculty and students.

History

Vermont College of Fine Arts traces its roots to the Newbury Seminary, which first opened in Newbury, Vermont in 1834.^[2] One of the earliest faculty members and principal for two years was Clark T. Hinman who later became the first president of Northwestern University.^[3]

The seminary moved in Montpelier in 1868.^[4]^[2] After existing in several forms including a Wesleyan Seminary and a Methodist Seminary, using the name Montpelier Seminary,^[5] it became Vermont Junior College in 1941.^[6] In 1958, it became Vermont College. In 1972, Vermont College merged with Norwich University.^[7]

Union Institute & University acquired Vermont College in 2001 and in 2008, the MFA programs separated from Union Institute & University, and Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) was formed as an independent institution.^[6]

Vermont College of Fine Arts ended on-campus residencies in Vermont in June 2022.^[8]

Summer residencies in 2023 and 2024 were held on the campus of Colorado College.^[9]^[10] A January 2024 residency was held at Susquehanna University.^[11]

In April 2024, VCFA began a long-term affiliation with the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), and began hosting its residences on the CalArts campus in Santa Clarita, California beginning in January 2025.^[12]^[13]

Academics

Programs feature writers-in-residence, artists-in-residence, and artist-scholars such as Richard Russo,^[14] Andrew Blauvelt,^[15] Susan Cooper,^[16] Gregory Maguire,^[17] Holly Black and Meredith Davis,^[18] who give lectures, readings, and workshops.

Approximately 98 authors, designers, filmmakers, composers, artists, and scholars teach at Vermont College of Fine Arts in a part-time capacity and all have terminal degrees in their field.^[19]^[6] There are currently no full-time professors at VCFA.^[19]

Programs

The Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Writing program was established in 1981 and the MFA in Visual Art in 1991. The MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults, the first "MFA program in writing for young readers," began in January 1997. In 2011, it launched an MFA in Music Composition program and an MFA in Graphic Design program^[20] The MFA in Film program was established in 2013. In 2014, the residential MFA in Writing and Publishing began, and the Graduate Studies in Art & Design Education Program was established in 2015. The newest program is the International MFA in Creative Writing & Literary Translation, which enrolled its first students in 2018.

Low-residency

In the low-residency structure, students earn their graduate degrees through brief on-campus residencies at CalArts, self-designated study, flexible scheduling, and personalized attention through one-on-one guidance with a faculty mentor. The on-campus residencies consist of workshops, lectures, readings, panel discussions, student-teacher conferences and critiques, and presentations of works in progress."^[6] A faculty member works with five or fewer students through written correspondence and electronic/video/telephone communication in between residencies.

Presidents

Newbury Seminary

Charles Adams (1834–1839)^[2]
Osmon Baker (1839–1844)^[2]
Clark T. Hinman (1844–1846)
Harvey Wood (1846–1847)
Francis Hoyt (1847)
Henry Sanborn Noyes (1853–1854)^[21]