Tom Bligh Awarded Fellowship by VCCA

(Amherst, VA) – Tom Bligh of Frederick, MD, has been awarded a fellowship by the Virginia Center
for the Creative Arts (VCCA). The VCCA is located near Sweet Briar College in the foothills of the
Blue Ridge Mountains in rural Virginia. Tom Bligh will be among approximately 25 Fellows focusing on
their own creative projects at this working retreat for visual artists, writers and composers.

A typical residency ranges from two weeks to two months. Each artist is provided with a
comfortable private bedroom, a private studio and three prepared meals a day. Beyond the
breakfast hour and the dinner hour, there are no schedules or obligations. This distraction-free
atmosphere, as well as the energy that results from having some 25 visual artists, writers, and
composers gathered in one place, enables artists to be highly productive.

Serving more than 350 artists a year (more than 4,000 since its inception), the VCCA is one of the
nation's largest year-round artists' communities. VCCA Fellows have received worldwide attention
through publications, exhibitions, compositions, performances, and major awards and accolades,
including MacArthur grants, Pulitzer Prizes, Guggenheim fellowships, National Endowment for the
Arts awards, Rome Prizes, Pollock-Krasner grants, National Book Awards, Broadway and Off-
Broadway productions, and Academy Award nominations. VCCA has been a wellspring of music,
literature and the visual arts in the United States, providing residencies for artists from all disciplines
during the most important and the least supported phase of their work: the creative phase. This is
done by giving visual artists, writers, composers, performance artists, filmmakers, collaborating
artists and those whose work crosses disciplines the crucial elements every artist needs–time and
space to do their work.

A nonprofit organization founded in 1971, the VCCA is supported in large part by grants and private
donations. More information is available online at www.vcca.com or by calling 434-946-7236.