A message from CalArts leadership
Dear CalArtians,
We are excited to announce a new, long-term affiliation between CalArts and the Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA), a low-residency, graduate-only arts college based in Montpelier, Vermont. This formal relationship will enable us to partner with an institution whose mission and values are well aligned with our own, to benefit from each other’s unique expertise, and to enhance the educational ecosystem that will continue to support the development of diverse artists in the years to come.
Three years ago, CalArts put forward our strategic framework, a guiding document developed with dialogue and input from the entire CalArts community. The framework articulates the shared goals and objectives for an actionable plan to guide us through the next five to 10 years. The framework’s first goal is to “identify and implement the most sustainable, relevant, and mission-driven scale and structure for CalArts.” This affiliation marks a significant step in achieving that goal.
While our schools’ missions are aligned, our academic offerings and student bodies are quite different. VCFA offers exclusively low-residency MFA programs serving graduate students who primarily fall in the 35-to-50 age range. Students work independently with their faculty mentors from the communities where they live, and come together twice a year for nine-day, in-person residencies. Beginning in January 2025, those residencies will take place on the CalArts campus, during our winter and summer breaks.
Although the relationship won’t bring immediate changes for CalArts students, faculty, and staff, it sets the stage for possible collaborations and creative connections between our communities over the longer term.
Under the affiliation agreement, each institution will retain its academic independence, with its own board, president, academic leadership, faculty, and staff. Each school will maintain its own accreditation and admit students, set tuition, manage curriculum, and award degrees independently of the other—in other words, while CalArts will become the “parent” of VCFA in legal form, each school will continue to operate much as it does today. VCFA students will remain VCFA students and graduate to become VCFA alumnx, and you will remain a CalArtian, earning your degree from CalArts.
In today’s higher-education environment, well-conceived partnerships are a primary avenue to help protect and improve the student experience while bolstering academic relevance and financial stability.
When VCFA approached us recently with this opportunity, we engaged in research and conversations involving faculty, academic and administrative leadership, and trustees. Through this process, we confirmed that VCFA and CalArts share bedrock values and priorities that position us to work as productive partners. We both value a transformative student experience, collaboration and experimentation across disciplines, and programming that empowers diverse artists. It’s hard to imagine a better match.
We’ve just notified our respective accrediting bodies of our intent following formal decisions by the VCFA and CalArts boards to move forward together. Once the accrediting bodies approve, we’ll put the partnership into practice on a conditional basis before final clearance from the U.S. Department of Education. That audit-like process can take a year or more.
We anticipate you will have many questions about the details of this new relationship. To help keep you informed as the affiliation progresses, we’ve launched an informational website at vcfa.calarts.edu, which will be updated as more specifics become available. It will be a standing resource throughout the affiliation-building process. There is also a designated email account, vcfa@calarts.edu, where you may submit questions, comments, and suggestions. And we will take time to discuss the partnership and the opportunities it presents for CalArts at the spring All-Institute Town Hall, which takes place April 11 from 5 to 7 pm in the Bijou.
Thank you in advance for welcoming our VCFA peers when they join our community of artists on campus next year. And thank you for your commitment to the ongoing experiment that is CalArts.
With gratitude,
Charmaine Jefferson, Board Chair
Ravi Rajan, President
Tracie Costantino, Provost
