VMFA Visual Arts Fellowship Program: 75 Years of Supporting Virginia’s Artists

2015 marked the 75th anniversary of the VMFA Visual Arts Fellowship Program. Since 1940, this Fellowship Program has been a vital source of funding for art and art history students as well as professional artists, awarding 1,250 fellowships totaling more than $5 million to Virginia’s artistic community.

The goal of the program, when it was established in 1940 through a generous contribution from the late John Lee Pratt of Fredericksburg, was to foster the creative efforts of Virginia’s best artists and most promising art students, and thereby, promote artistic life in the Commonwealth as a whole. Since that time, disciplines, age requirements, categories, and amounts of awards have all evolved; however, the goal of the program has remained the same: to support Virginia’s artists.

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Testimonials

Find out how the Fellowship Program influenced the work and lives of past recipients.

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Additional Fellowship Resources

Learn more about the previous recipients, see the works that are in VMFA’s permanent collection and more!

Chronology of Fellowship Recipients Works in Permanent Collection Fellowship Exhibitions HistoryFellowship Archival Catalogue

Fellowship Gallery | 2016—17 RECIPIENTS