Vermont College of Fine Arts

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Vermont College of Fine Arts

Established:	2008
Type:	Private non-profit
President:	Thomas Christopher Greene
Faculty:	about 60
Postgraduates:	about 225
Location:	Montpelier, Vermont, United States
Affiliations:	New England Association of Schools and Colleges
Website:	http://www.tui.edu/vcfa

Coordinates: 40°14′54″N 111°38′57″W / 40.24833, -111.64917

Vermont College of Fine Arts is the only graduate school in the United States "devoted solely to low-residency recognized graduate degrees in visual arts, writing, and writing for children and young adults.^[1] The student to faculty ratio is 4-to-1.^[2] The faculty of Vermont College has won many literary awards, including a Newbery Honor Award^[3] ^[4] and a National Book Award.^[5]^[6] Vermont College became a graduate degree institution in 1981^[7] and is located in Montpelier, Vermont.

1 History
2 Mission
3 Academics
4 People
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

College Hall

The focus of Vermont College has changed since its beginnings as Newbury Seminary in 1831. After existing in several forms including a Wesleyan Seminary and a Methodist Seminary, it became Vermont Junior College in 1941.^[8] In 1958 it became Vermont College. In 1972 Vermont College merged with Norwich University; the two schools became fully integrated in 1993. Union Institute acquired Vermont College in 2001. The Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in writing program was established in 1981 and the MFA in visual art in 1991.^[9] The MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults, the first "MFA program in writing for young readers," began in January 1997. In 2008 Vermont College of Fine Arts became an independent fine arts institution.^[10]

College Hall, the central building on campus, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was completed in 1872 and includes a two-story high chapel and a pipe organ from 1884.^[11]

[edit] Mission

Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) mission is "to create a student-centered environment that fosters democratic participation in the education process. VCFA encourages innovative experiential learning that nurtures its students' knowledge, skills, critical thinking, and creativity--all necessary ingredients to become lifelong students, dedicated teachers, and committed artists in a variety of disciplines.VCFA is dedicated to creating an environment in which collaboration rather than competition is the guiding spirit. At VCFA, students are regarded as unique individuals who will take charge of their educations and collaborate with faculty mentors to create programs of study ideally suited to their individual needs and desires."^[12]

[edit] Academics

Graduate programs offered:

Masters of Fine arts in Visual Art
Masters of Fine Arts in Writing
Masters of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults

Certificates offered:

Graduate-level picture book certificate^[13]

[edit] Low-residency

The low-residency structure allows students to attend graduate school while living at home. Vermont College requires "four six-month semesters of intensive one-on-one work under the guidance of a faculty mentor and five ten-day on-campus residencies, each of which is comprised of workshops, lectures, readings, panel discussions, student-teacher conferences and critiques, presentations of works in progress."^[14] The students create their own individualized program of study with their faculty mentors. A faculty member works with five or fewer students through "written correspondence, online communication, oral tapes, and/or telephone conferences" during the semester at home.^[15]

All programs feature writers-in-residence or artists-in-residence who give lectures and readings. Artists and writers-in-residence have included Jean Valentine, M. T. Anderson and Jane Yolen, who was the inaugural writer-in-residence in the Writing for Children and Young Adults program.^[16]

[edit] MFA in Writing

The MFA in writing program offers degree tracks in fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry as well as a secondary concentration in translation.^[17] The MFA in Writing requires 2 theses: a critical thesis and a creative thesis in addition to a giving a lecture and public reading.^[18]

The faculty of the MFA in Writing Program have published more than 300 books and have won almost every major literary award. More than two-thirds of the faculty teach at other universities.^[19]

The MFA in writing program is rated as one of the top five low-residency MFA programs in the United States.^[20] ^[21]

[edit] MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults

The MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults requires 2 theses: a critical thesis and a creative thesis in addition to giving a lecture and public reading.^[22] Candlewick Press, Houghton Mifflin/Clarion, and Harcourt Trade Publishers have established scholarships and prizes for students in the Writing for Children and Young Adults program.^[23]

[edit] MFA in Visual Arts

The MFA in visual arts "encourages an interdisciplinary approach to studio practices, helping emerging artists to integrate contemporary cultural theory with the practical concerns of their own media, method, and place in the world."^[24] Visual arts studied at Vermont include painting, sculpture, drawing, electronic media, printmaking, photography, craft as fine art, video/film, performance, installation, and site-specific practices.^[25] The MFA in Visual Arts requires a one-person exhibition at the T.W. Wood Art Gallery.

[edit] People

[edit] Student profile

The average student age is 40 years old. Students live all over the world and continue working in their current careers while attending Vermont.^[26]

[edit] Faculty Profile

Approximately 60 authors and artists teach at Vermont College. All have terminal degrees in their specialty.^[27]

MFA in Writing Faculty Awards
Name	Award	Work	Year
David Wojahn	O. B. Hardison, Jr. Poetry Prize^[28]	poet's teaching and art	2007
Jean Valentine	National Book Award^[29]	Door In the Mountain	2004
Diane Lefer	Mary McCarthy Prize for Short Fiction ^[30]	California Transit	2005

MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults Faculty Awards
Name	Award	Work	Year
Tim Wynne-Jones	Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor Book^[31]	Rex Zero and the End of the World	2007
Sarah Ellis	TD Canadian Children's Literature Award^[32]	Odd Man Out	2007
Cynthia Leitich Smith	National Book Festival book^[33]	Tantalize	2007
Martine Leavitt	National Book Award finalist ^[34]	Keturah and Lord Death	2006
Julie Larios	Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor Book ^[35]	Yellow Elephant	2006
Julie Larios	Pushcart Prize and Academy of American Poets Prize	Poetry
Leda Schubert	NY Times Editor's Choice^[36]	Ballet of the Elephants	2006
Margaret Bechard	ALA Best Book for Young Adults ^[37] ^[38]	Spacer and Rat	2006
Sharon Darrow	Junior Library Guild selection ^[39]	Trash	2006
Kathi Appelt	PEN finalist in Children's literature ^[40]	My Father's Summers	2005
Rita Williams-Garcia2005	ALA Best Book for Young Adults ^[41]	No Laughter Here	2005
Margaret Bechard	School Library Journal Best Book of the Year designation, and ALA Best Book for Young Adults^[42] ^[43]	Hanging onto Max	2003
Ellen Howard	Christopher Award (Canadian)^[44]	The Log Cabin Quilt	1997
Tim Wynne-Jones	Governor General's Award (Canada)^[45]	The Maestro	1995
Tim Wynne-Jones	Governor General's Award (Canada)^[46]	Some of the Kinder Planets	1993
Sarah Ellis	Governor General's Award (Canada)^[47]	Pick-Up Sticks
Marion Dane Bauer	Newbery Honor Award ^[48]	On My Honor	1987

[edit] Alumni

Alumni and students are published with major publishing houses. They work as "librarians, editors, freelance writers, teachers, directors of arts organizations, illustrators, and publishers."^[49]

Alumni Awards
Name	Award	Work	Year
Sundee T. Frazier	Coretta Scott King Award John Steptoe New Talent Author Award^[50]	Brendan Buckley's Universe and Everything in It	2008
April Pulley Sayre	Geisel Honor Book Award^[51]	Vulture View	2008
Ann Parr	National Council of Social Studies Honor Award for ethnicity ^[52]	Gordon Parks: No Excuses	2007
Martine Leavitt	National Book Award finalist ^[53]	Keturah and Lord Death	2006
Stephanie Greene	ALA Notable Book ^[54]	Queen Sophie Hartley	2006
Deborah Wiles	National Book Award finalist ^[55]	Each Little Bird That Sings	2005
Ed Briant	Publishers Weekly Flying Start^[56]	Paper Parade	2004
An Na	Printz Award ^[57]	A Step From Heaven	2002