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 nearly $6 million to more than 1,500 Virginia artists.
In addition to providing financial rewards 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
Sam Blanchard
Blacksburg
Sculpture
Website:
Instagram:
Advisory Board, 2023
Zach Duer
Christiansburg
New and Emerging Media
Website:
Instagram:
Epiphany Machine, 2023
Julie Grosche
North Chesterfield
Film and Video
Website:
Instagram:
Eclipsed, 2023
HH Hiaasen
Richmond
Mixed Media
Website:
Instagram:
For Later Use, 2021
Min-Haeng Kang
Richmond
Crafts
Website:
Instagram:
Cell, 2021
Jeffrey Kenney
Linden
Painting
Website:
Instagram:
Untitled (after Willam Morris), 2023
Adele Yiseol Kenworthy
Vienna
New and Emerging Media
Website:
Instagram:
사람이꽃보다아름다워 (people are more beautiful than flowers), 2022
Pedro Ledesma III
Arlington
Photography
Website:
Instagram:
Mr. T.J. Dingle at Longstreet’s Deli, 2023
Andrew Norris
Richmond
Painting
Website:
Instagram:
All I Ever Wanted Was to Kiss the Sun, 2023
Benjamin Rinehardt
Richmond
Film and Video
Website:
Instagram:
Sweet Dreams, 2024
Eric Standley
Blacksburg
Mixed Media
Website:
Instagram:
Currency of Tolerances, 2022
Paul Thulin-Jimenez
Richmond
Photography
Website:
Instagram:
Raíz de Mi Sangre (Root of My Blood), 2021
Graduate Fellows
Erin Ehren
Richmond
Sculpture
Virginia Commonwealth University
Website:
Instagram:
Sesso F with Yellow Bow, 2023
Jolinna Li
Charlottesville
Film and Video
University of Virginia
Website:
Instagram:
Crow’s Mouth, 2023
Alexis Torres Marroquín
Richmond
New and Emerging Media
Virginia Commonwealth University
Website:
Instagram:
Jubilant Emigration, 2023
Nathaniel Newcomb
Richmond
Crafts
Virginia Commonwealth University
Website:
Instagram:
Hand Room Divider, 2024
Lizzie Rivard
Charlottesville
Art History
University of Virginia
Cy Twombly Graduate Fellow
Kevin Hopkins
Richmond
Painting
Virginia Commonwealth University
Website:
Instagram:
Peanut Head, 2022
Undergraduate Fellows
Ashley Davis
New Kent
Film and Video
Virginia Commonwealth University
Website:
Instagram:
Simon Says, 2024
Grace Heinzelmann
Vienna
New and Emerging Media
University of Virginia
Website:
Instagram:
The Haven, 2023
Theodore Mayberry
Norfolk
Mixed Media
Old Dominion University
Website:
Instagram:
In Loving Memory, 2023
Kenneth Nguyen
Herndon
Film and Video
University of Virginia
Website:
Instagram:
I See You, 2024
Sirena Pearl
Arlington
Painting
Virginia Commonwealth University
Website:
Instagram:
Red Composition, 2023
Connie Wang
Fairfax
Painting
Virginia Commonwealth University
Website:
Instagram:
Portrait of a Swan (Self Portrait), 2024
Jurors
Professional Fellowship 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