The upcoming 2026-27 Pollak Society season promises to be filled with opportunities to experience the living laboratory of art, design, and boundless possibility that is VCUarts. Pollak Society membership guarantees access to not-to-be-missed events and is an investment in the future of VCUarts that directly empowers the performers, designers, educators and artists whose imagination, craft and research will shape our world for decades to come.
Join us as we embark on another year of exploration, collaboration and advancement.
Celebrating more than 20 years of the Pollak Society
Established in 2005, this influential group of art enthusiasts and influencers is named for Theresa Pollak, founder of the VCU School of the Arts. Her first class in 1928 raised the bar for artists and artistic freedom and her passion, creativity and foresight are at the core of VCUarts, consistently ranked as one of the country’s top arts and design schools.
For more than two decades, the Pollak Society has provided critical funding that strengthens the vitality of the school and helped our brightest students realize their promise.
Membership matters
Membership in the Pollak Society stimulates artistic excellence at VCUarts and forms a nexus for creativity and inclusion. Members are invited to experience art in beautiful and unexpected ways through travel opportunities, unique events and engaging with renowned faculty, talented students, acclaimed alumni and each other.
Shaping the future
This is an extraordinary time to be a part of the VCUarts community. The vanguard exhibitions and programming at the Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU strengthen and complement the school and provide transformative intersections for collaboration, research and discovery.
As we look to a bright future of excellence in artistic practice, performance, innovation and design, and to opening the highly anticipated CoStar Center for Arts and Innovation, the generosity of Pollak Society members empowers our students, faculty and alumni to continue to fuel the artistic and creative world in Richmond, and across the globe.
Join the Pollak Society
We invite you to join us on this thrilling journey
Member Benefits
All patron-level benefits, plus:
- An invitation to join VCUarts faculty and alumni at special events in New York and Los Angeles
- VIP access to Art Basel Miami Beach and other art and design happenings
- Membership in the VCU President’s Club, which recognizes individuals whose annual gifts total $5,000 or more
All member-level benefits, plus:
- Tailored behind-the-scenes experience for four guests with your favorite VCUarts department
- Unique engagements with visiting artists, performers, designers and scholars
- Invitations to six exclusive VCUarts events throughout the academic year
- A subscription to Studio, the VCUarts’ annual magazine
- Acknowledgement in the Pollak Society brochure and on the website
Experience the arts as a Pollak Society Insider. Join today.
Upcoming Exclusive Events
Tuesday, September 22
Discover Broad Signals, a dynamic new public art series by the Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU that invites artists to create monumental, site-specific exterior works that respond to the Markel Center’s architecture. Celebrate the activation of Pond Theater with Executive Director Jessica Bell Brown and Senior Curator Amber Essevia. Hear how the Broad Signals series will bring fresh energy to the ICA’s Thinking Field and the surrounding urban environment.
Thursday, November 5
A Fusion of Sight and Sound, step into Richmond’s historic Monumental Church for an extraordinary evening where architecture and art converge. Inside this Robert Mills masterpiece, the soaring harmonies of VCUarts choral students will unite with dynamic visual artistry, transforming the historic sanctuary into a sensory experience.
Wednesday, December 9
Think Pink, and enjoy an evening of history, fashion, and contemporary design at a Fashion Salon inspired by Barbie: A Cultural Icon, an exhibition on view at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture. Student garment designs in hues of pink will appear on the runway, offering a striking visual and creative dialogue with the museum’s current exhibition.
February 24, 2027
An Immersive Theatre Experience: The Roaring Twenties are taking over the historic Scott House! Join VCUarts alumni theater troupe Yes And for a site-specific, interactive experience that transports you straight to the 1920s as the grand mansion hosts a soiree for the VCUarts vanguard.
March 2027 – TBD
The Art of Multimedia Storytelling: Experience the intersection of media and art at Virginia Public Media’s sophisticated new downtown headquarters. The evening offers an exclusive space activation of VCUarts faculty work from Cinema, Kinetic Imaging, Communication Arts and Photography and Film, demonstrating the collaborative power of storytelling across disciplines.
April 30, 2027
A Masterpiece of Stage and Symphony: Prepare for a thrilling evening of drama and grand orchestration as VCUarts Theatre, Dance and Opera unite on stage in a spectacular ensemble. Professor Daniel Myssyk will conduct the VCU Symphony for a performance that promises to be a breathtaking fusion of music, dynamic movement and operatic brilliance.
Dates and event details are subject to change
By joining the Pollak Society, you support the creative endeavors of VCUarts students, faculty and staff.
To learn more about the Pollak Society, or how you can support the Arts at VCU, please contact:
Sarah Hendricks, Executive Director of Development
shendricks@vcu.edu or (804) 828-8844
Thank you to our 2025–26 Pollak Society Members
Rachel and Douglas Dalton
Melanie and Richard De Schutter
Melanie Trent Family Foundation
Virginia and Steve Harvey
Christy and Michael Lantz
Pam Royall
Vicky and Chuck Bleick
Richard Birnbaum
Nita and Jack Enoch
Carolyn and Thomas Garner
Wendy and William Garner
Garner Family Fund
Meg and John Gottwald
Jeffrey Gumenick
The Gumenick Fund
Terrell and Elliott Harrigan
Laura and Gary Lewis
Jason Noble
Sue and Carl Patow
Carl and Sue Patow Giving Account
Alex Ritter and Rab McClure
Suzanne Seipel
Jayne and Brian Shaw
Marcia and Harry Thalhimer
Charles G. Thalhimer and Family Foundation
Lloyd and Art Backstrom
Claudia and Steven Biegler
Biegler Family Donor Advised Fund
Melissa and Julian Bowen-Rees
Lissy Bryan
Gwen Burroughs
Susan Butler
Edie and Bob Cabaniss
Julia and Bryan Carr
Reji Carreras
Gisela Chelimsky, M.D., and Thomas Chelimsky, M.D.
Kay and Philip Davidson
Birch Douglass
Joanna Duffett and Alan Hutson
Debra and David Fitzgerald
Michelle Gluck and John McGurl, M.D.
Michelle Gluck Fund
Meg and John Gottwald
Kathryn Gray and Alexander Nyerges
Sarah Hendricks and Kevin Badgett
Anne Hines
Susan and John Jamieson
Karen and Pat Kelly
Deborah and John Kemper
Kemper Family Fund
Sharon Larkins Pederson
Anita and Thomas Lisk
*Frances Lewis
Ginny and Andy Lewis
The Lewis and Butler Foundation
Laura Middlebrooks and David Ross
Sandra Mihaloff and Philip Klaus
Linda and Steve Nash
Michelle and John Nestler, M.D.
John and Michelle Nestler Donor Fund
Candy Osdene
Elizabeth Palen
Karen and John Palen
Joseph Papa and J.S. Fauquet
Patsy Pettus
Karen and Scott Phillips
Pam Reynolds
Courtney Romero
Megan and Alex Schad
Gail and John Jay Schwartz 1st Ultimate Ram
Lynn and Chip Spitzer
Mary and *Jack Spain
Tracy and Tom Stallings
Katie and Ted Ukrop
Ted and Katie Ukrop Fund
Jae and Bill Stegeman
Jan Tutton and Roger Tutton, M.D.
Julie and Paul Weissend
Sandra and Tyrone Wilkins
Jerry Williams and Mark Reed
Williams/Reed Giving Fund
Vann T. Williams
Caroline Wright
Elizabeth and J.D. Wright
The J.D. and E.D. Wright Family Fund
Bucci and John Zeugner
*deceased
