In 2018, VAPA faculty members Dr. Katherine Guinness (former Director of the Art History program) and Professor Corey Drieth (Visual Art) founded the Female Emerging Artists Residency Series (F.E.A.R.S.). The residency is currently co-hosted by The Galleries of Contemporary Art (GOCA) and the UCCS Visual and Performing Arts department (VAPA). F.E.A.R.S. is an exciting, experimental program that invites female-identifying artists early in their professional art careers to visit UCCS for one-week residencies. While at UCCS, resident artists stage an exhibition, meet with students in classes and via critiques and workshops, and give a public talk at the Ent Center for the Arts. Thus, this program has multiple goals. First and foremost, each residency is educationally driven and is designed to inspire our art students creatively and professionally, specifically those who are female-identifying (which makes up the large majority).  In addition, we view it as a way of addressing gender inequity within our field by providing valuable professional opportunities for early to mid-career female artists. Finally, we believe it will raise the profile of UCCS by integrating us more fully into our local community and by connecting us with artists ascending in their careers on regional, national, and international levels. 

Since the fall of 2019, the residency has hosted six artists, including North Carolina-based artist Carley Zarzeka (sculpture and assemblage), New Mexico-based artist Danielle Rae Miller (installation and drawing), New York artist and former UCCS alum Sara Meghdari (photography, performance, and video), North Carolina artist Kimberly English (fibers), New Jersey-based artist Lauren Rosenthal McManus (drawing and installation), and Alaska-based artist Jenny Irene Miller (photography).