Mason Arts

The College of Visual and Performing Arts Launches Initiative to Renovate Center for the Arts

Kirstin Franko — Mon, 03 Feb 2025 21:53:20 +0000

The College of Visual and Performing Arts Launches Initiative to Renovate Center for the Arts Kirstin Franko Mon, 02/03/2025 - 16:53

��AV’s College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) announces the public launch of the Give Voice initiative, a $35 million fundraising effort to renovate and modernize the Center for the Arts into a state-of-the-art venue. The Give Voice initiative is part of Mason Now: Power the Possible—the university’s first one-billion-dollar comprehensive fundraising campaign to support student success, research, innovation, community, and stewardship.

“For decades, our Center for the Arts has been a beacon for talent and innovation, a proving ground for students learning their craft and pursuing their passions, and home to world-class performances as the cultural hub of our region," ��AV President Gregory Washington said. “The Give Voice initiative will ensure that the arts remain a front door to the university, as they have been for 6.5 million patrons who have been enriched and inspired by their shared experiences in this storied building.”

Built in 1990, the Center for the Arts has supported the early work of ��AV students whose careers led them to Broadway, and has hosted Grammy, Tony, Emmy, and Academy Award-winning artists—and U.S. presidents. The modernization aims to improve and enhance the venue’s ability to support the needs of artists, audiences, and the students and faculty of CVPA. It will include major technological and acoustical upgrades; improved accessibility, sightlines, and aesthetics; additional aisles on Orchestra and Balcony levels; a remodeled lobby; expanded teaching and rehearsal spaces; a new donor lounge; expanded restrooms; and more.

Architectural concept rendering of the Center for the Arts Concert Hall by Quinn Evans.

“So many people have told us that there are really two eras in George Mason history—before and after the Center for the Arts opened its doors,” CVPA dean Rick Davis said. “I think this transformation will be thought of in the same way in years to come, as we create a modern, technology-rich, visually stunning, and artist-and-audience friendly home for all who enjoy the arts, whether as a creator or an audience member.”

The Give Voice initiative quietly began with a $10 million gift from Barry Dewberry and Arlene Evans, which was announced in April 2022 as part of George Mason’s 50th anniversary celebration. Their transformative gift set the stage for this capital initiative towards the reimagining of the Center for the Arts for future generations. Upon the conclusion of its renovation, the Center for the Arts will be renamed the Barry Dewberry and Arlene Evans Center for the Arts in recognition of their visionary support.

“My father, Sid Dewberry, was one of the founding fathers of George Mason and he had a special fondness for music,” said Barry Dewberry. “Towards the end of his life, Arlene and I saw the need to pick up the baton and continue supporting George Mason and Mason Arts. We recognize the important role the Center for the Arts plays and what this renovation will do to heighten the experience for students, visiting artists, and the public. Arlene and I are honored to make the lead gift for the Give Voice Initiative, and we look forward to seeing the exciting results.”

Arlene Evans and Barry Dewberry. Photo by Chia-Chi Charlie Chang.

In addition to the Dewberry/Evans gift, the Center for the Arts has also secured a $6 million gift from the Peterson Family Foundation. The Peterson Family gift—announced in May 2024—specifically supports enhancements to the Center for the Arts’ Concert Hall and lobby. These spaces will be renamed the Peterson Auditorium and the Peterson Family Lobby, respectively.

With the Dewberry/Evans and Peterson gifts, along with many other instrumental philanthropists pledging support, Give Voice has raised nearly $18 million of its $35 million goal. An additional $35 million toward the reimagination of the Center for the Arts is anticipated to come from ��AV.

The Give Voice initiative was officially announced at the Mason Arts Elevated event held on February 5 at the Center for the Arts. The event brought together distinguished donors, university and local leaders, and VIP guests. At the event, President Washington spoke about the importance of this renovation initiative for Mason Arts and was joined by Dean Davis, who highlighted the new plans for modernizing the Center for the Arts. Also in attendance during the event were Provost James Antony and President of the ��AV Foundation and VP for Advancement and Alumni Relations Trishana E. Bowden.

Mason Arts is the collective presence of the arts embedded throughout George Mason. In addition to CVPA, Mason Arts includes seven community arts programs, galleries across three campuses, and multiple performance venues—both physical and digital.

Part of the Mason Now: Power the Possible campaign, the event also brought awareness to additional fundraising priorities across Mason Arts, including student scholarships; the development of a George Mason Arts District with sculpture installations on the Fairfax Campus; expanding facilities for the growing Film and Video Studies and Computer Game Design programs; support for chair positions and professorships to recruit and retain outstanding faculty; funds to create a concept plan for an art museum; and the Hylton Center for the Performing Arts Endowment Fund supporting its performances and arts education opportunities for the public, veterans, and students of all ages.

Additional information about the Center for the Arts renovation is available on the Give Voice initiative website. Project specifics including the renovation timeline will be announced at a later date and updated on the website.

Power the Possible

In This Story

Rick Davis

Gregory Washington

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Mason Now campaign

College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA)

Center for the Arts

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Campus News

Mason Arts Amplified Releases New Content, including performances by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Cirque Kalabanté, and more!

Laura Mertens — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 15:57:45 +0000

Mason Arts Amplified Releases New Content, including performances by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Cirque Kalabanté, and more! Laura Mertens Thu, 01/16/2025 - 10:57

Rising star British pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason performs Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Center for the Arts on January 28, 2024.

New content will launch throughout January 2025 on Mason Arts Amplified, Mason Arts’s digital venue that features live and on-demand performances, lectures, behind-the-scenes talks, and more from ��AV’s Center for the Arts, the Hylton Performing Arts Center, and College of Visual and Performing Arts.

The limited-release recording of the London-based Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO), featuring “phenom” (San Francisco Chronicle) British pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason, will is available to watch through February 16 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Recorded in front of a live audience at the Center for the Arts under the direction of Maestro Vasily Petrenko on January 28, 2024, the program featured Kanneh-Mason’s powerful performance of Prokofiev’s popular Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26, “a dazzling kaleidoscope of a piece” (The Times). Repertoire also included Debussy’s Danse (orch. by Ravel) and Rimsky-Korsakov’s beloved Scheherazade, Op. 35, culminating in a standing ovation from the crowd. The concert was described by an attendee as “one of the best concerts we ever experienced at the center.” Another audience member declared, “This performance has to rank among the 25 best I have ever seen.”

“Notable for the beauty of the orchestral sound” (The Guardian), the RPO made its triumphant return to the Center for the Arts—having performed there previously in 2022—with rising star Kanneh-Mason, who served as the RPO’s 2022/2023 Artist-in-Residence and has been hailed by BBC Music Magazine as “a pianist who makes lines sing beautifully and virtuosic passages dance, finding intimacy and eloquence at telling moments.” The eldest of a famous family of seven musically gifted siblings who have been featured on CBS Sunday Morning, Kanneh-Mason performed with Sir Elton John in Los Angeles in 2013, inspiring the pop icon to pay her tuition at the Royal Academy of Music. She has since performed as guest soloist also with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, and Stockholm Philharmonic, among others; and recorded four solo albums for the Decca Classics label. She recently performed an NPR Tiny Desk Concer t that aired Jauary 7, 2025.

Read Isata Kanneh-Mason’s advance Q&A with WETA Classical about the Prokofiev and her performance at the Center for the Arts. The performance, which was sponsored by the Tom and Evelyn Kiley Fund, is available on Mason Arts Amplified for $15.

Cirque Kalabanté performs Afrique en Cirque, which was recorded at the Hylton Performing Arts Center in November 2024.

Also available on January 16, 2025 at 1 p.m. ET is the limited release performance by Cirque Kalabanté, recorded in front of a live audience on November 16 and 17, 2024 at the Hylton Performing Arts Center’s Merchant Hall in Manassas, Virginia, on ��AV’s Science and Technology Campus. This performance is also available to watch through February 16 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Cirque Kalabanté’s multisensory extravaganza, Afrique en Cirque, delivers a unique fusion of African arts and European circus traditions. Daring acrobats and dancers perform gravity-defying feats accompanied by the pulsating rhythms of a live Afro jazz ensemble. Inspired by life in his native Guinea, the founder of Cirque Kalabanté Yamoussa Bangoura created Afrique en Cirque to celebrate the vitality, joy, and beauty of African culture. “Explosive drumming and dance routines, the group delivered mind-blowing acrobatic sequences with extraordinary precision” (Vice Magazine). The performance is available for $15.

Accessibility as Inclusion participants from left: Moderator Niyati Dhokai, program director for the Veterans and the Arts Initiative at George Mason, and panelists Amanda Loerch, captioner with c2 and director of patron services at Sixth & I; Betty Siegel, director of the Office of Accessibility and VSA at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; Ermyn King, audio describer, consultant, and arts educator; and Rachael Abbott, actor, theater artist, and advocate.

Additional College of Visual and Performing Arts events released in January will include the Accessibility as Inclusion: Panel Conversation, exploring strategies and practices arts spaces can utilize to provide fully accessible arts programming, and how these techniques impact the audience’s sense of inclusion and belonging. Available on January 23, 2025, at 1 p.m. ET for free, this discussion was recorded live on November 13, 2024, at the Center for the Arts, moderated by Niyati Dhokai, program director for the Veterans and the Arts Initiative at George Mason. Panelists included Amanda Loerch, captioner with c2 and director of patron services at Sixth & I; Betty Siegel, director of the Office of Accessibility and VSA at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; Ermyn King, audio describer, consultant, and arts educator; and Rachael Abbott, actor, theater artist, and advocate.

Then on January 30, 2025 at 1 p.m. ET, the Legends and Legacies event presented by The LIVE Center (The Center for Live Interactive Virtual Education) and George Mason’s College of Visual and Performing Arts. In this first installment of the LIVE Center’s new Legends and Legacies series, which celebrates the leading artists of our time, Tony Award-nominated performers and husband-wife duo Terrence Mann and Charlotte d'Amboise participated in a virtual discussion (streamed in real time from the National Dance Institute in New York and projected onstage at the Harris Theatre on George Mason’s Fairfax Campus, moderated live by George Mason's School of Theater Professor Edward Gero.

The Mason Arts Amplified platform—formerly known as Mason Arts at Home, launched in April 2020 during the pandemic—gives digital audiences the opportunity to experience the work that takes place across our campuses. Digital programs include pre-performance discussions with world renowned artists like choreographer Mark Morris; the “Silkroad and the American Railroad” course, produced in collaboration with the Silkroad Ensemble and the 92nd Street Y; performances by Mason Jazz, Mason Opera, Mason School of Theater, and much more.

Create a free account and explore enriching Mason Arts content from anywhere.

View January 2025 releases on Mason Arts Amplified

Explore our digital venue

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Campus News

Metro’s Art in Transit Program showcases George Mason students' work

Colleen Rich — Wed, 04 Dec 2024 19:33:02 +0000

Metro’s Art in Transit Program showcases George Mason students' work Colleen Rich Wed, 12/04/2024 - 14:33

Four students in ��AV’s College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) will have original animations displayed on screens in six Metro stations as part of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) Art in Transit Program, beginning the first week of December 2024.

These George Mason student animations will be on rotation in the Metro stations for a full year. Photo by the Art in Transit Program

These animations will be on rotation in the stations for a full year. Additionally, through a new five-year partnership with Metro, CVPA students from the School of Art and Film and Video Studies and Computer Game Design Programs, will have ongoing opportunities to participate in this innovative learning experience.

The process began in fall 2023, when School of Art Professor Gail Scott White, Film and Video Studies Adjunct Rebekah Wingert-Jabi, and Film and Video Studies Program Director Cynthia Fuchs met with Metro’s Art in Transit team to discuss how George Mason students could participate in the WMATA’s digital art initiative.

“From the very first meeting, I was drawn to the Art in Transit Program’s evolving nexus of art, culture, and community,” said White. “It seemed like the perfect experiential learning opportunity for CVPA students to work through the processes of idea generation and concept development, receive individual mentorship, and to create frame-by-frame animations of their own design that would be publicly displayed, reaching Metro viewers from all walks of life.”

In spring 2024, White reached out to current CVPA students—computer game design major Valeria Hunt and art and visual technology majors Taka Hunter, Joseph Cameron Rhodes Murdock, and Jennifer Perez—about joining a pilot program, in which each would create a 20-second animation to be displayed on screens in the Crystal City, Farragut North, NoMa–Gallaudet U, Gallery Place–Chinatown, L'Enfant Plaza, and Metro Center stations. The students began working in earnest on their projects in the summer and early fall of 2024.

Here the CVPA students talk about their work:

Valeria Hunt, Man with the Suitcase

“My stop-motion cut-out animation, Man with the Suitcase, portrays moments from everyday life that many people can relate to. I used watercolors and ink, scissors and glue, found materials, facial expressions, and physical gestures to visually engage and emotionally connect with the viewer. Inspired by personal experiences and observations of social interactions, this short film encourages viewers to reflect on their own experiences of human nonverbal communications. Man with the Suitcase is about daily struggles, with a touch of humor to help us get through the day.”

Taka Hunter, Ichi Nichi

“Ichi Nichi (One Day) is a short piece made up of day-to-day moments. Animated in Clip Studio Paint, the work features a set of characters inspired by treasured experiences and people in my life. Through my art I aim to appreciate every person’s pursuit of happiness and the inherent beauty of our mundane lives. I hope that viewers can connect with elements of the work in whatever small way. If there’s anything I want to achieve with Ichi Nichi, it’s to make someone feel seen.”

Joseph Cameron Rhodes Murdock, The Magnificent Pixie Titans and the Workshop Varmint

“In this animation, the Wessel, a small creature who loves shiny objects and getting into mischief, breaks into a magic workshop and wreaks havoc. The Magnificent Pixie Titans use their magic to outfox the Wessel and restore order. My greatest joy is to create inhabitants of worlds, not just creatures that look cool but ones that have purpose. I love weird and kooky creatures, from mythology, fantasy, sci-fi, or just reality. Encouraged by my sci-fi loving mother, I grew up reading global folklore and myths. Every creature in those tales had a narrative purpose and a natural place in the worlds they inhabited—just like the Wessel and the Pixie Titans.”

Jennifer Perez, Stardust Playground

“Stardust Playground is a fantastical, loose reimagining of a childhood memory of a family trip to a swimming pool. In this animation, the pool is outer space while the characters are animals. I am played by a penguin. I chose the other three animals—the acrobatic ferret, a high energy dog, and a cat who is cool and calm—for their exquisite movements and behavioral traits. These free-spirited animal characters joyfully play in zero gravity among the stars.”

The Art in Transit Program enhances the experience of customers, communities, and the Capital region by incorporating visual and performing arts experiences into the Metrorail system and Metro facilities. With Metrorail serving nearly half a million commuters every weekday, on average, the talents of these four CVPA students will reach an exponentially increasing number of people in the region while contributing to the program’s enriching mission.

This new partnership with Metro exemplifies the kinds of connections and opportunities uniquely offered to students as part of their educational experience within CVPA. Other examples include the Murals at Mason program by Mason Exhibitions, which develops and manages contracts for local artists—often CVPA students and alumni—with public art opportunities in the Washington, D.C., area; the Film and Video Studies Program’s traveling showcase of student films each fall—Best of Film at Mason—with free public screenings at various locations, including a recurring fall showcase during the Washington West Film Festival; and the Reva and Sid Dewberry Family School of Music’s Mason Music Productions, which manages opportunities for student musicians to be hired for private and public events. Faculty and staff throughout CVPA actively explore and create hand-on experiences for students, from supporting research and scholarly activities to curating showcases of student work in local galleries and museums and hiring students as members of production teams that travel the world.

The Art in Transit Program’s Digital Art Initiative was launched in 2018 to develop partnerships with local arts organizations and institutions to facilitate the presentation of original digital artworks for Metro's digital displays at the following stations—Crystal City, Farragut North, NoMa-Gallaudet U, Gallery Place-Chinatown, L'Enfant Plaza, and Metro Center.

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Virginia House of Delegates Honors Acting for Young People and Mason Community Arts Academy

Emily Schneider — Thu, 28 Mar 2024 18:02:44 +0000

Virginia House of Delegates Honors Acting for Young People and Mason Community Arts Academy Emily Schneider Thu, 03/28/2024 - 14:02

On Tuesday, March 19, 2024, Delegate Kathy Tran presented Mason Community Arts Academy Executive Director Mary Lechter with House Resolution 804, in honor of Acting for Young People’s (AFYP) 25th anniversary in 2022. Co-signed by Delegate David Bulova and unanimously approved by the entire House of Delegates, the Resolution highlights AFYP’s long history in the surrounding community, and the even greater impact these programs have had, made possible in collaboration with Mason Community Arts Academy (MCAA).

Delegate Kathy Tran (L) presented Mary Lechter (R), founder of AFYP and executive director of Mason Community Arts Academy, with a commendation honoring the work of AFYP on March 19, 2024.

“I’m truly humbled by this honor,” notes Lechter. “This recognition is especially meaningful, as we have had the opportunity to work with children from both the Tran and Bulova families in our Acting and Music programs over the years. Perhaps most important of all is the feedback Delegate Tran shared in person, and includes in the Resolution itself, commending our staff and faculty for the authentic experiences they provide for our students. It has always been my goal to provide a warm, welcoming, and inclusive environment in which students can learn and grow. I am touched that we’ve been acknowledged for this core value of our programs.”

Founded by Mary Lechter in 1997, AFYP started out offering classes for youth in the Fairfax area, gradually expanding to after-school and summer camp programs. In 2012, Lechter entered into a partnership with MCAA, bringing AFYP into the organization to become the theater education wing of the academy. Since that time, AFYP has received multiple area awards for its camps and year-round lessons.

The strength of this partnership is also evident in the ways that AFYP and MCAA weathered the impacts of the pandemic shutdown. Their fully online programming for summer 2020 consisted of 74 programs serving 1,023 students from 32 states and 11 countries. As the region emerged from the lockdowns and returned to in-person activities, MCAA and AFYP returned to pre-pandemic enrollment numbers by the summer of 2022, and are continuing to expand their enrollment and their impact throughout the region.

Learn more about the Mason Community Arts Academy

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Mary Lechter

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Strategic Direction

A Contemporary Composer Fuels a New Mason Collaboration

Emily Schneider — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 19:19:10 +0000

A Contemporary Composer Fuels a New Mason Collaboration Emily Schneider Tue, 03/07/2023 - 14:19

In This Story

Lawrence M. Jackson

Dr. William Lake, Jr.

Growing up in the Black church, Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Concert Bands, Dr. William Lake, Jr., deeply understands the power of music and movement.

After hearing Come Sunday by composer Omar Thomas, Lake dreamed of bringing this work to life with movement, bringing together the ��AV Bands and the School of Dance. Working on such a project would not only expand his students' musical vocabulary but also create an authentic and expansive cultural experience for the Mason community. Associate Professor of Dance, Lawrence M. Jackson, had similar experiences, growing up in “the southern Black church, a very charismatic church” and reflected on his own upbringing and research into African diasporic dance forms. This collaboration came to life onstage in the Center for the Arts on Mason’s Fairfax Campus on February 28.

Students from Mason's School of Dance performing with the Mason Wind Symphony to Omar Thomas's Come Sunday on February 28. Photo by Will Martinez.

As a composer, arranger, and educator, Omar Thomas works with some of the most respected names in composition and education, including multiple GRAMMY-winning composer and bandleader Maria Schneider, Ken Schaphorst, and Frank Carlberg. Born to Guyanese parents in Brooklyn, New York, Thomas pursued music diligently, completing his Master of Music at Berklee College of Music and becoming the first Black composer to ever receive the National Bandmasters Association/Revelli Award for Come Sunday. His compositions are described as “thought-provoking, multi-layered masterpiece[s],” which made embarking on a partnership around this piece even more exciting for Jackson and Lake.

“I really hold dear my experiences as a musician in the Black church (I started playing the piano for my children’s choir around age 6) to my musical upbringing. Since I know gospel and other sacred music intimately, I can infuse the music with the extra nuances that can’t be described using notation but are true to the style. This piece has been performed by many great ensembles across the country… however, there hasn’t been a performance that centers movement and these great sounds.” said Lake.

Professor Jackson’s career often includes collaborations, a hallmark of his practice at other universities before coming to Mason in the fall of 2022. While the invitation to work with Dr. Lake at the end of the fall semester was a surprise, it also felt reassuring to find this partnership so early on and to begin exploring what this experience would mean for Mason students from both the School of Dance and the Dewberry School of Music.

A student from the School of Dance smiles at the audience during the performance of "Come Sunday" by Omar Thomas, performed by the Mason Wind Symphony. Photo by Will Martinez.

Building a vocabulary for the dancers was an opportunity for Jackson’s students to explore the storied culture of the Black church's sacred space and develop an understanding of the types of movement vocabulary that would reflect the energy and history of these spaces and traditions. From watching Alvin Ailey’s Revelations and clips of a particular scene from the movie Blues Brothers, Jackson offered context to his creative process, “blending contemporary dance forms, African diasporic dance forms, and pedestrian movement that is derived from the Black church, all merged into an amalgamation of movement vocabulary uniquely designed for this work.”

“The Mason School of Dance students are excited to work with the musicians,” said Jackson. “These dancers, most of them, if not all of them, have never had the experience of working alongside a symphony or a band. I’m excited for them to experience the unique energy of the symphony and adapt in the moment.” All of the dancers performing in this piece are seniors in their final semester with the School of Dance, which made Jackson that much more eager to share this experience with them before they embark on the next stage of their careers.

The dancers are not the only ones expanding their understanding and skills with this performance. “The jazz and gospel musical vocabulary is foreign to my students,” said Dr. Lake.

“It’s inspiring to see how invested our students are in something that they realize is new and different. My hope is that through music and collaborations, my students have a gateway to appreciate cultures different than their own,” Lake adds.

Dancers from Mason's School of Dance perform Professor Lawrence M. Jackson's original choreography to Come Sunday by Omar Thomas, performed by the Mason Wind Symphony on February 28. Photo by Will Martinez.

Unlike most concerts, the Wind Symphony will be moved further upstage than normal and without the acoustic shell to allow for the choreography to be presented downstage. This has resulted in the assistance of the Center for the Arts Artistic Staff to add audio, lighting, and stage-managing support. This unique concert has been chosen as one of the Mason Arts at Home features that will be captured via six cameras in the hall and even GoPros! Dr. Lake shared, “I’m jealous of the audience, I won’t get to experience the concert from their vantage point – I’m thankful that the School of Music and the College of Visual and Performing Arts have agreed to record, edit, and professionally mix our hard work”.

The duo is optimistic that this is just the beginning of collaborations between the Mason School of Dance and the Dewberry School of Music.

You can watch an in-depth interview with Jackson and Lake on the College of Visual and Performing Arts YouTube channel, including behind-the-scenes footage of rehearsals leading up to the performance.

The Wind Symphony’s performance from February 28, 2023, including Come Sunday featuring the School of Dance, will be available to watch from March 28 through April 28, 2023 exclusively through Mason Arts at Home.