Resources
VCFA Stay Newsletter, March 14
The latest VCFA Stay newsletter highlights student letters sent to Dr. Song Richardson, President of Colorado College, and the VCFA Board of Trustees.
By the numbers: community poll indicates major opposition to the new direction
VCFA Stay conducted a poll to understand current sentiment about the new direction President Ward, the senior administration, and the Board of Trustees have proposed. The poll results indicate majority opposition to the new direction and overwhelming support for stopping the property sale in order to pursue other options.
Students submit update to Vermont Attorney General Complaint
On February 22nd, current MFA students at Vermont College of Fine Arts submitted an update to their initial complaint to the Vermont Attorney General dated November 19, 2022.
Three VCFA Buildings Have a Buyer; College Withdraws DRB Application
From The Montpelier Bridge: The Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) has dropped two pieces of big news in the past week: a buyer has come forward for three of the college’s campus buildings, and after hearing from dozens of disgruntled neighbors, the college has withdrawn its application to the city of Montpelier for a “Campus Planned Unit Development.”
Letter to the editor: Vermont College of Fine Arts plan is baffling
Letter to the Editor at VT Digger: Filmmaker, associate professor, and VCFA grad Sorensen expresses “intense sadness and utter bafflement at Vermont College of Fine Arts’ current plan to relocate its graduate residencies to Colorado.”
VCFA withdraws PUD application
Per City of Montpelier Development Review Board (DRB) public materials, VCFA withdraws application for Planned Unit Development (PUD).
Letter to the editor: Selling the College of Fine Arts buildings is an outrage
Letter to the Editor at VT Digger: Sydney Lea, former Vermont poet laureate and longtime VCFA board trustee and faculty member finds “innumerable reasons to resent the decision of its board and administration to savage the institution’s very soul.”
Reply from Laura Collela to Monk: all this upheaval to sell off the most desirable properties on campus for a new spa?
VCFA Film Faculty Laura Collela responded to Matt Monk’s email to faculty about the agreement to sell three campus properties to 150 Main Street LLC.
Letter from Monk: agreement signed to sell three campus buildings to 150 Main Street LLC
Letter from Academic Dean Matt Monk to VCFA Faculty about the agreement with 150 Main Street LLC to purchase three campus buildings.
About potential buyer Casey Ellison and 150 Main Street, LLC
According to Leslie Ward, president of the Vermont College of Fine Arts, the college reached an agreement with 150 Main Street LLC to buy three campus buildings. Casey Ellison is principal of 150 Main Street LLC.
Luis Guzmán: Formal complaint filed on Vermont College of Fine Arts decision
From VT Digger posted commentary by actor Luis Guzmán, who’s been a visiting faculty member at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. “The leadership of the Vermont College of Fine Arts should be held accountable, out of respect for the history of the school, for the future of arts education, and for the local and international communities it has betrayed.”
Facebook post from Thomas Greene: VCFA buildings under contract
From Thomas Greene: “This is the Crowley Center at VCFA. It was built in 2016. The first new building on that campus since 1965. Yesterday, VCFA leadership announced that they had a deal to sell it, the historic Gary Library next to it, the nearly 100 year old magnificent building next door to it, and the Martin House, dating back to the civil war, to a group that will turn it into a spa and a Russian bathhouse, apparently.”
As Vermont College of Fine Arts Packs Up, Students and Neighbors Worry About the Future
From Seven Days: Students and alumni at the Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier are pressing administrators to suspend their plan of moving residencies to Colorado College.
Campus makeover concerns VCFA neighbors
From The Barre Montpelier Times Argus: The development review board remains in wait-and-see mode with respect to a controversial proposal that would make it easier to repurpose the Vermont College of Fine Arts’ sprawling College Street campus.
The future of Vermont College of Fine Arts’ campus up for discussion
From WCAX: VCFA officials were before Montpelier’s Development Review Board on Monday night looking for approval on their Campus Unit Development application.
Livestream with Luis Guzman
Instagram Replay: Acclaimed film & television actor and VCFA MFA in Film faculty Luis Guzman, a decades-long resident of Vermont, hosted an Instagram Live Q&A to share his thoughts about the proposed sale of the Montpelier campus and the program's move from Vermont to Colorado.
VCFA Zoning Permit Application Materials and Public Comments
VCFA’s application for zoning request changes, meeting minutes, and public comments are publicly available on the City of Montpelier website.
Protest on the green on January 28
On Saturday evening, January 28, 2023, a group of students and alumnx projected a message onto VCFA’s College Hall: STUDENTS & FACULTY VOTE NO CONFIDENCE IN PRESIDENT LESLIE WARD
Letters to the Editor at Montpelier Bridge
From the Montpelier Bridge posted two Letters to the Editor responding to Vermont College of Fine Arts’ proposed Campus planned unit development. Both letters request DRB to vote no on VCFA plan.
Residents Rally About VCFA Zoning Request
From The Montpelier Bridge: The Vermont College of Fine Arts met resistance from neighbors at a Development Review Board hearing last week, when, one after the other, commenters objected to a key piece of the college’s “planned unit development” application.