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“The full-scale return of ARTS by George! was a joyous experience from top to bottom,” exclaims Rick Davis, Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts.  

ARTS by George returned on Saturday, September 24, 2022, following a two-year hiatus, hosted by the College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) at ����AV. The event gave students and faculty from each discipline an opportunity to pull back the curtain and present behind-the-scenes showcases, film screenings, performances, and interactive experiences. Stations of exquisite cuisine and beverages were available to guests while attending exhibits across ten open studios and rehearsal halls on Mason’s Fairfax Campus. 

In a truly special start to the evening, students from the School of Theater were able to join the event’s headliner, Kristin Chenoweth, for her soundcheck in the Concert Hall of the Center for the Arts, prior to their own performances in the evening’s showcases. The Tony and Emmy Award winner welcomed them with open arms, remarking “These are my people! I’m your people and you're my people, and I'm so excited to have you here tonight!” 

During the evening’s showcases, guests flowed in and out of three buildings on the Fairfax Campus: the de Laski Performing Arts Building, Harris Theatre, and Horizon Hall. Inside de Laski, students from the School of Theater dazzled the crowd with their powerful voices and clever choreography as they previewed songs from their upcoming production of Head Over Heels. Just down the hall, the emerging professionals of Mason’s School of Dance performed to packed houses, and graciously responded to questions from the audience after each performance. The Dewberry School of Music didn’t stop the beat all night, with talented instrumental and vocal musicians presenting piano, jazz, and opera selections during the two and half hours of student showcases. 

As guests made their way out of deLaski across the Johnson Center Plaza, they were enticed into Harris Theater by the resonant sounds of Mason’s Symphony Orchestra. Alternating their time on the Harris stage, students from the Film and Video Studies program screened their films, offering guests a sneak peek into the revolutionary stories crafted at Mason. More music flowed from the amphitheater space between Harris and Horizon Hall, where the Spirit Drumline, the 8^th Green Machine Regiment Band, and the Green Machine Pep Band kept toes tapping as guests ambled along the walkway into Horizon Hall. 

Inside Horizon Hall, staff and students from Mason Community Arts Academy (MCAA) spoke about the impact of having such incredible arts programs available in our community from such a young age, and performed vocal and instrumental music for the assembled crowd. Offering a hands-on exploration of their disciplines, the Film and Video Studies program and the Computer Game Design program created mini studios inside the Mason Innovation Exchange (MIX), where guests explored a change of scenery via the green screen demonstrations and virtual reality headsets. Also in the MIX, the School of Art gave guests a chance to play with printing, personalizing a postcard they could take with them as a memento of their experience, while elsewhere in the room, students chatted with guests while demonstrating the capabilities of the 3D printers. 

After the showcases, everyone flowed down the hill and into the Center for the Arts Concert Hall for the live auction, followed by the headlining concert. Guests were welcomed to the auction by Mason President Gregory Washington, who remarked, “Tonight, we celebrate the excellence of Mason’s College of Visual and Performing Arts and the vibrant cultural offerings it provides to our campuses and wider community. The arts are one of the front doors to the university and attract visitors of all ages and backgrounds. We’re pleased that so many of you have found your way through our door to become involved with CVPA and Mason. Your generosity supports student scholarships and helps ensure that talent meets opportunity, and that budding artists can develop their gifts and pursue their passions here at Mason.”  

The auction items and the Fund-A-Student opportunities, which directly contribute to the scholarships available to CVPA students, raised more than $23,000. Taking the stage after the auction, Rick Davis expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the full house, saying “As I’m sitting here, knowing the students that these contributions support, many of them personally, many of them in my classes, knowing what it does for our College’s ability to grant the opportunity of a first-rate education, not just in the arts, but a first-rate university education, knowing what we have accomplished here tonight in just these 27 minutes or so, is personally very, very, very gratifying, so thank you all so very, very much. . . Some of you know me well and you’ll know that when I say I’m almost speechless, you’ll know that that is a significant accomplishment!” 

Capping off the evening, Kristin Chenoweth performed a concert from her album For The Girls, a tribute to prominent female singers throughout history. After the show, Chenoweth and Davis ended the night with a champagne toast on stage. 

The annual philanthropic event raised approximately $250,000 for student scholarships in dance, theater, game design, film, music, visual arts, and arts management, as well as for the Mason Community Arts Academy, Green Machine Ensembles, and the Great Performances at Mason season at the Center for the Arts.