JMU MFA graduate named VMFA Visual Arts Professional Fellow
Yulin Yuan (’24M) of SADAH’s MFA program received a 2024-2025 Visual Arts Professional Fellowship from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
School of Art Design and Art History
James Madison University
Yulin Yuan (’24M), a Master of Fine Arts graduate from James Madison University’s School of Art, Design, and Art History, received a 2024-2025 Professional Visual Arts Fellowship from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
Life as a MFA student is busy — making art, taking and teaching classes while preparing for exhibitions and reviews promises a busy schedule. Not to mention attending artist events and balancing life outside the studio, MFA students are always on the go. Yuan applied for a Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Visual Arts Fellowship last fall despite a busy schedule. “It felt unreal to be selected as I applied to the professional category since I would graduate in the spring,” Yuan shared. Her impressive portfolio and experience earned her one of just nine Visual Arts Fellowships awarded to Virginia-based professional artists.
The VMFA Visual Arts Fellowship program has awarded funding to Virginia artists since 1940. Started by a donation to the museum from late American industrialist John Lee Pratt of Fredericksburg, Virginia, in 1940, the program helps fund established and budding Virginian artists who show remarkable skill. The program awards Fellows funding and the opportunity to show their work on the VMFA’s campus and around Richmond.
“I received so many wonderful interactions and feedback from faculty over the past three years.”
— Yulin Yuan
Yulin Yuan, XingTian, digital print, 40"x60"
Yuan’s award comes after three years of work pursuing her MFA at James Madison University, and she notes the SADAH community’s impact on her career. “Recalling my first year, stating that I wanted to create a world based on Chinese immigrant experiences, I am glad I accomplished that with the help of everyone I came across, including faculty, students and peers,” Yuan said. Her MFA education culminated with an incredible solo thesis exhibition, K(now)W(here), in the Duke Hall Gallery of Fine Art. The exhibition featured work from Yuan’s time at James Madison and even highlighted the work that earned her the VMFA fellowship.
After graduating in May, Yuan plans to stay in Harrisonburg at James Madison University to teach as an instructor in SADAH’s Foundations department. “I experienced teaching in my third year of MFA and enjoyed being on the other side, watching students develop their artistic endeavors,” she shared. Yuan encourages her students to take advantage of the opportunities and time available to them. “JMU is highly equipped with tools, equipment and books to support students in doing all kinds of work they desire,” she said. “It’s the best time to make as much as possible.”