Residency
Residency Experience
Where Place, Practice, and Purpose Meet
Each semester of the MFA in Arts Leadership begins with an immersive, five-day residency on Randolph College’s historic campus in Lynchburg, Virginia. These residencies provide the space and structure to build relationships, ignite ideas, and launch meaningful work for the semester ahead.
Whether it’s your first or final term, residency is a time to gather with peers and faculty, explore urgent issues in the field, and reimagine what’s possible in the work of arts leadership.
What Happens at Residency
Residencies are dynamic, interdisciplinary experiences that include:
- Workshops and Seminars on cultural strategy, equity, financial resilience, organizational change, and more
- Case Studies and Simulations that model real-world scenarios faced by arts leaders
- Guest Speakers and Visiting Faculty from across the nonprofit, creative, and civic sectors
- Community-Based Site Visits to arts organizations in Virginia.
- Collaborative Projects and Peer Dialogue to foster reflection, experimentation, and collective growth
- Individual Mentorship Meetings to prepare for the semester’s professional project
Residencies serve as the creative and relational launchpad for the semester—connecting students with faculty, mentors, and one another in a way that supports meaningful progress throughout the term.
Residency Themes
Each residency focuses on a central theme that aligns with the program’s outcomes and reflects current trends and challenges in the field. Sample themes may include:
- Leading Through Change: Navigating Crisis, Growth, and Innovation
- Cultural Infrastructure: Building the Systems that Support the Arts
- From Transactional to Transformational: Values-Based Fundraising and Finance
- Community Power: Coalition Building and Collective Impact
Residency Format
Length: 7 days (6 night stay)
Students arrive and the session opens on the evening of day 1. Students work through day 6, and travel home on day 7.
Location: Randolph College, Lynchburg, Virginia
Schedule: Full-day sessions including evening activities and meals
Housing & Meals: Included in residency fees and arranged by the College
Travel: Students are responsible for travel to and from residency
Residency Goals
By the end of each residency, students will:
- Begin a new phase of mentorship and coursework with clarity and direction
- Deepen relationships with peers, faculty, and mentors
- Engage directly with current issues, tools, and practices in arts leadership
- Connect theory to lived practice through discussion, collaboration, and critique
- Reflect on their own leadership style and organizational context
Why It Matters
In a field that thrives on connection, imagination, and collective vision, the residency experience is more than just an academic requirement—it’s a vital space for transformation.
It’s where ideas meet action, and where a community of purpose-driven leaders take shape.
Each residency serves as a reminder that leadership is not a solitary act, but a shared practice rooted in trust, experimentation, and care.
Residency Themes
Each residency focuses on a central theme that aligns with the program’s outcomes and reflects current trends and challenges in the field. Sample themes may include:
- Leading Through Change: Navigating Crisis, Growth, and Innovation
- Cultural Infrastructure: Building the Systems that Support the Arts
- From Transactional to Transformational: Values-Based Fundraising and Finance
- Community Power: Coalition Building and Collective Impact
Residency Format
Length: 5 days
Location: Randolph College, Lynchburg, Virginia
Schedule: Full-day sessions including evening activities and meals
Housing & Meals: Included in residency fees and arranged by the College
Travel: Students are responsible for travel to and from residency
Residency Goals
By the end of each residency, students will:
- Begin a new phase of mentorship and coursework with clarity and direction
- Deepen relationships with peers, faculty, and mentors
- Engage directly with current issues, tools, and practices in arts leadership
- Connect theory to lived practice through discussion, collaboration, and critique
- Reflect on their own leadership style and organizational context
Why It Matters
In a field that thrives on connection, imagination, and collective vision, the residency experience is more than just an academic requirement—it’s a vital space for transformation.
It’s where ideas meet action, and where a community of purpose-driven leaders take shape.
Each residency serves as a reminder that leadership is not a solitary act, but a shared practice rooted in trust, experimentation, and care.
Summer and Winter
Students apply to begin their MFA program in either a summer or winter residency.
- Summer Residency sessions are housed on Randolph College’s campus.
- Winter Residency sessions are housed off-campus.
Randolph College’s Campus
Located in the heart of Virginia, our 100-acre campus is in an historic, residential area of Lynchburg, close to the James River, and within walking distance to several restaurants and cafes.
Randolph is ranked #19 in the Princeton Review’s Guide to Green Colleges: 2025 Edition and was one of 31 colleges on the Princeton Review’s 2023 Green Honor Roll for earning a perfect sustainability score.
Schedule
2026-2027 Academic Year
Winter 2026 Residency
January 8-14, 2026
Summer 2026 Residency
June 5-14, 2026
