One of my favorite residencies to visit when I need and want to accomplish a good deal of work is the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA). Located near Amherst, VA and Sweet Briar College in rural Virginia, this retreat provides fellows with a room, studio, and three meals per day. For those of you inclined to travel internationally, they offer a program in France.

This past Saturday, Alonzo Davis, among others, hosted a fellows reunion at the Brentwood Arts Center. The center is the artistic anchor in a burgeoning arts district in Maryland (right near Washington, DC). What a treat to have a fellows reunion so close to the 32 Poems HQ in Hyattsville, MD.

If you are an artist looking for an artistic retreat, I encourage you to look into the VCCA’s programs. Their association with Sweet Briar College allows fellows to have access to the college facilities—pool, gym, basketball court, hiking trails—and the VCCA grounds have their own hiking trail for when you need to get moving. Their chef creates delicious (and healthy) meals that nurture the body and the imagination. I will be headed there this May and am looking forward to the time to focus solely on my writing.