The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Visual Arts Fellowship Program was established in 1940, through a generous contribution from the late John Lee Pratt of Fredericksburg, to foster the creative efforts of Virginia’s best artists and most promising art students. The VMFA Fellowship Program continues to be a vital source of funding for professional artists, as well as undergraduate and graduate students, who demonstrate exceptional creative ability in their chosen discipline. In the program’s history, VMFA has awarded more than $6 million to over 1,500 Virginia artists.
In addition to providing financial awards to all recipients, VMFA exhibits works by past fellowship winners in VMFA’s Amuse Restaurant and Claiborne Robertson Room, VMFA’s Pauley Center Galleries, and select spaces at Richmond International Airport. Fellowship recipients have also shown their work in the galleries of the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton and the Capital One Commons in Richmond.
Click here to learn more about the VMFA Fellowship Program, including how to apply.
Professional Fellows
Advisory Board, 2023
Epiphany Machine, 2023
Eclipsed, 2023
For Later Use, 2021
Min-Haeng Kang
Richmond
Crafts
Website: N/A
Instagram: @minhaengkang
Cell, 2021
Untitled (after Willam Morris), 2023
Adele Yiseol Kenworthy
Vienna
New and Emerging Media
Website: themeowingbird.com
Instagram: @themeowingbird
사람이꽃보다아름다워 (people are more beautiful than flowers), 2022
Mr. T.J. Dingle at Longstreet’s Deli, 2023
All I Ever Wanted Was to Kiss the Sun, 2023
Benjamin Rinehardt
Richmond
Film and Video
Website: N/A
Instagram: N/A
Sweet Dreams, 2024
Currency of Tolerances, 2022
Raíz de Mi Sangre (Root of My Blood), 2021
Graduate Fellows
Erin Ehren
Richmond
Sculpture
Virginia Commonwealth University
Website: N/A
Instagram: @erin_b_ehren
Sesso F with Yellow Bow, 2023
Jolinna Li
Charlottesville
Film and Video
University of Virginia
Website: jolinnali.github.io
Instagram: @jojolinna
Crow’s Mouth, 2023
Alexis Torres Marroquín
Richmond
New and Emerging Media
Virginia Commonwealth University
Website: alexistm.com
Instagram: @perplexica
Jubilant Emigration, 2023
Nathaniel Newcomb
Richmond
Crafts
Virginia Commonwealth University
Website: N/A
Instagram: @nathanielnewcomb
Hand Room Divider, 2024
Lizzie Rivard
Charlottesville
Art History
University of Virginia
Cy Twombly Graduate Fellow
Kevin Hopkins
Richmond
Painting
Virginia Commonwealth University
Website: N/A
Instagram: @kevinhopkinsart
Peanut Head, 2022
Undergraduate Fellows
Ashley Davis
New Kent
Film and Video
Virginia Commonwealth University
Website: ashleydavis2.myportfolio.com
Instagram: @filmedbyashley
Simon Says, 2024
Grace Heinzelmann
Vienna
New and Emerging Media
University of Virginia
Website: N/A
Instagram: N/A
The Haven, 2023
Theodore Mayberry
Norfolk
Mixed Media
Old Dominion University
Website: N/A
Instagram: @goddamn_weevils
In Loving Memory, 2023
Kenneth Nguyen
Herndon
Film and Video
University of Virginia
Website: kennethknguyen.com
Instagram: N/A
I See You, 2024
Sirena Pearl
Arlington
Painting
Virginia Commonwealth University
Website: sirenapearl.com
Instagram: @sirena_pearl_art
Red Composition, 2023
Connie Wang
Fairfax
Painting
Virginia Commonwealth University
Website: wangc14.myportfolio.com
Instagram: @c.wang.art
Portrait of a Swan (Self Portrait), 2024
Jurors
Professional Juror
Miranda Lash, Ellen Bruss Senior Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, Denver
Graduate Art History Juror
Shawnya Harris, Deputy Director of Curatorial and Academic Affairs and Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson Curator of African American and African Diasporic Art, Georgia Museum of Art, Athens
Graduate and Undergraduate Visual Arts Juror
Sara Woodbury, Curator of Art, Barry Art Museum, Norfolk