The VCCA has kept to its mission as well as any arts group I know. That mission is helping artists do their work, and that's more important than anything else.

That's the main thing that's changed over the years. When I first came here in 1989, we really were pretty isolated. There was one phone in the main building that all the fellows used. Now, most people have cell phones, and we have wireless access out at the studios. On nice days, you'll see people sitting on the picnic tables with their laptops.