W&L Art Professor Completes VCCA Fellowship Sandy de Lissovoy was one of 22 fellows to participate in the prestigious residency program at Mt. San Angelo.

By Brian Laubscher
September 14, 2023

Sandy de Lissovoy, assistant professor of art at Washington and Lee University, recently completed a three-week fellowship this August through the Virginia Center for Creative Arts (VCCA) at its Mt. San Angelo facility in Amherst, Virginia.

De Lissovoy was one of 22 individuals working in creative fields selected to participate in the program, which invites writers, visual artists and composers to produce their own projects while attending the retreat. Each artist is provided with a private bedroom, private studio and three prepared meals each day. The distraction-free environment serves as a productive space for attendees to gather in a single location to work both independently and collaboratively.

De Lissovoy’s work was also supported by the Lenfest Summer Research Grant and focused on his upcoming exhibition at the Staniar Gallery, “Floating Topographies,” which will explore interactions of landscape and mapping with sculptural constructions to bring contemporary environmental issues into play with an aesthetics of abstraction.

“Being in residence at VCCA was a wonderful opportunity to work without distraction and be supported inside a community of artists, writers and composers who are all doing the same in their own disciplines,” said de Lissovoy. “I delved deeply into processes combining sewing, dyeing and painting to discover new possibilities for my creative work. At VCCA, fellows have the voluntary opportunity to share works in progress with each other. I was among five artists who held a lively open studio, sharing and speaking about our creative practices. The intellectual, creative and personal connections afforded through this residency experience will be long-lasting and deeply cherished.”

The artists who come to VCCA, whether emerging or established, are selected through competitive peer review based on the important or innovative work they are doing in their respective fields. Since its founding in 1971, VCCA has hosted more than 6,500 writers, visual artists and composers. VCCA Fellows have received worldwide attention including MacArthur fellowships, Pulitzer Prizes, Guggenheim fellowships, National Endowment for the Arts awards, the National Book Award, Grammy Awards, and Academy Award nominations.

One of the largest year-round artist residency programs, VCCA typically hosts more than 400 artist-fellows annually at its Mt. San Angelo facility in Amherst. It also hosts 50 individuals annually at the Moulin à Nef in Auvillar, France.

De Lissovoy has served as a member of the W&L faculty since 2019. He holds a BFA from the California College of the Arts and a MFA from the University of California, Irvine. In addition to his residency with the VCCA, he has also been a resident at Sculpture Space and the Banff Centre in Canada.

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