The arrival of the Vermont College of Fine Arts Summer Residency this July brought many new faces to the CC campus. And one very familiar one. Sammi LaBue Hatch ’12 spent the nine-day summer residency as the program’s Student Support Liaison as well as leading several of the residency’s place-based generative workshops.
Hatch, who majored in creative writing at CC with minors in religion and India studies, went on to graduate from VCFA in 2017. She now lives in Brooklyn, NY and is the founder of Fledgling Writing Workshops, a creative community of writers where she teaches creative writing classes for adults.
“It’s a very approachable model,” Hatch says. “Other writing programs felt so elitist or competitive. I wanted to make something different. It’s very collaborative, writing together in sessions.”
She’s excited to be back with both her alma maters to explore the spaces and opportunities for creative work at CC and around Colorado Springs. “I believe how artists find safety and belonging in a space is by creating in it,” Hatch says. “My goal is to create those special pockets here for these students.”
Hatch, who spent much of her childhood on campus as her mom worked in the CC Physics department, feels like this is very much a summer homecoming. When asked what it was like to be back at CC, leading a group of writers and artists, Hatch couldn’t help but smile.
“I loved my experience here which has everything to do with my role at VCFA now. This campus really shaped me as an artist. This feeling of belonging in this place is what I wanted to share,” says Hatch. “I love sharing this creative space with my students. I feel honored to be a part of it on this side and to get to come back.”
The VCFA Summer Residency is on campus from July 21-29, hosting all six of their MFA programs (Film, Graphic Design, Music Composition, Visual Art, Writing, and Writing for Children & Young Adults). The nine days are packed with lectures, readings, performances, screenings, exhibitions, and more, with many events open to the public.