VCCA Residencies at le Moulin à Nef — Fellowship

Le Moulin à Nef is the French site of the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. VCCA opened it in Auvillar in 2004, after the Denver-based Donnell-Kay Foundation gave the organization two buildings, and runs it through its supporting body VCCA Abroad.

Four artists are in residence at a time and the site hosts close to forty a year. Writers, visual artists and composers ask for a stay of 11, 18, 25, 32 or 39 days inside the season, which for 2027 runs from 15 March to 9 December. Each stay starts on a Monday and ends on a Thursday.

Only artists who have already completed a residency at VCCA’s Mt. San Angelo campus in Amherst, Virginia may apply, so this is a second step rather than a way in. Residents pay toward the cost of the stay, and three named fellowships plus need-based aid bring that down.

Benefits & funding

A private studio, a private bedroom with shared bath, and two dinners each week, in a village on the Garonne listed among the most beautiful villages in France.
The full cost is USD 300 per artist per day. The minimum an artist pays is USD 110 per day; asking to pay less means sending financial documentation.
The Sheila Gulley Pleasants Fellowship covers need-based financial assistance for a le Moulin à Nef residency in the 2027 season.
The Germaine Poliakov Fellowship gives a writer an 18-day residency plus a USD 1,000 travel stipend.
The Spiral Shell Fellowship gives a writer an 18-day residency plus a USD 1,000 travel stipend.
The application fee is USD 30, and VCCA waives it on request by email at least five days before the deadline.

Eligibility

Open only to VCCA Fellows who have already held a residency at Mt. San Angelo in Amherst, Virginia.
Disciplines accepted: poetry, fiction, nonfiction, playwriting and screenwriting, performance, film and video, drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, installation art, music composition, and cross-disciplinary work.
No nationality, age, degree or professional-training requirement. Enrolled undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students may apply, but projects of pure academic scholarship are not accepted.
Applicants pick one stay length — 11, 18, 25, 32 or 39 days — inside the season dates.
Work samples must be new every year for le Moulin à Nef, unlike the three-year rule that applies at Mt. San Angelo.
The two writing fellowships are for writers; the need-based fellowship is open to any VCCA Fellow.

Can you apply?

Open to all applicants

No nationality, residency, education, or experience limits are listed.

Circlebreaker is a free database of global fellowships, scholarships and programs — every one decoded like this.

We only check the criteria we have data for. Always confirm full eligibility on the official page before applying.

Application process

1
Hold a completed residency at Mt. San Angelo — without one the application cannot be made.
2
Open the le Moulin à Nef application on SlideRoom at vcca.slideroom.com between 1 June and 15 September 2026.
3
Submit the project description and fresh work samples for your discipline, and state the stay length and dates you want inside the 2027 season.
4
Pay the USD 30 fee, or email vcca@vcca.com at least five days before the deadline to ask for a waiver.
5
To pay less than USD 110 per day, send your most recent 1040 with the social security number obscured, by 1 October 2026, to VCCA International Programs, 154 San Angelo Dr, Amherst, VA 24521, or to vcca@vcca.org.
6
Wait for the decision, which VCCA sends by 15 December 2026.

Program timeline

Applications open on SlideRoom.
Jun 1, 2026
Application deadline.
Sep 15, 2026
Tax documentation due from artists asking to pay less than the minimum.
Oct 1, 2026
Decisions sent.
Dec 15, 2026
Season opens at le Moulin à Nef.
Mar 15, 2027
Season ends.
Dec 9, 2027