Fellowship

The VACE Fellowship is a paid training program that assists aspiring arts leaders in creating equitable and sustainable practices within their communities.

From September through December 2021, six VACE Fellows engaged each of the seven VACE organizations through a series of virtual meetings, in-person events, and independent work.

VACE Fellows explored the ins and outs of small Pittsburgh arts business models, non-profit governance, financial structures, programming, administration, and core values.

Fellows also delved into each VACE member organization’s philosophy on leadership and growth, strategic planning, and personal development.

The application for the 2021 VACE Fellowship has now closed.

The 2021 VACE Fellows are:

atiya jones

Multidisciplinary visual & conceptual artist, exploring themes of human connection, gentrification, migration and isolation, while visually depicting the effects of accumulative action/community through her WildLines. She utilizes her artwork to create and hold discourse centering the Black-experience she's had as an artist, woman, transplant, and wanderer.

Karen Lue

Karen Lue is a second generation Chinese American who is passionate about supporting marginalized communities and promoting equity in the arts. She has a background in art history and curation and is a practicing fine art photographer. She currently works in operations, events, and programming at the University of Pittsburgh.

Kemuel Benyehudah

Kemuel Benyehudah is a third year doctoral candidate at the University of Pennsylvania. His research interests are in curatorial activism at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). He recently won a book contract on the same topic and looks forward to his work advancing the contributions that people of African descent have made in the visual arts.

Naomi Chambers

Naomi Chambers is an artist creating and raising children in Pittsburgh. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2009 with a degree from the School of Business Administration in Marketing and the School of Arts and Sciences in Studio Arts. In 2016, she helped create a community art studio called FlowerHouse with the intention of enriching lives through arts education.

Shannon Thompson

Shannon Thompson has a background in a combination of performing arts nonprofits and grassroots activist organizing. She has spent the last four years in Pittsburgh developing unique programming at Assemble and The Andy Warhol Museum, before transitioning to her current role as CMOA's Manager of Youth and Family Programs.

Zoe Scruggs

Zoe Scruggs is an interdisciplinary artist working primarily in painting and music. Her work interrogates social ecology, black feminism and agricultural resistance. She has been awarded for her work across art and agriculture through the RISD Leader and Community Engagement Fellowship, Parent Council Grant, and the Florence Leif Award.