ARTS by George! Fall Fundraiser
In 2025, more than $289,000 was raised in support for student scholarships!
This annual fall benefit event supports student scholarships for George Mason University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts, Mason Community Arts Academy, Green Machine Ensembles, and the Great Performances at Mason season at the Center for the Arts.
The evening features showcases by talented Mason Arts students throughout our studio and performance spaces complimented by a buffet dinner and culminates with an exciting headliner performance in the Center for the Arts Concert Hall.
ARTS by George! has raised more than $4.6 million since it began in 2006. It’s not too late to support student scholarships and community arts programs: Make a Gift Today.
For 2025, the 20th ARTS by George! Headlining Performance was An Evening with Darren Criss
Since bursting onto the pop-culture landscape over a decade ago in Fox TV's his show Glee, Tony, Emmy, and Golden Globe winner Darren Criss has embodied the kind of kaleidoscopic artistry that's entirely uninhibited by form or genre. For this concert, Criss performed well known songs featured throughout his wildly eclectic career as both a songwriter and performer, including those from Glee, StarKid Productions, and the Broadway shows in which he's starred. Criss is currently starring in and received the 2025 Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for the critically acclaimed Broadway hit Maybe Happy Ending directed by Michael Arden. Playing at the Belasco Theater, the show opened to unanimous rave reviews including the The New York Times Critic's Pick and won the 2025 Tony Award for Best Musical.
Chair of the Mason Arts Board, Vicki Salmon, and her husband John, talk about their support for Mason Arts students and their love of ARTS by George!
Alumna Rebecca Wahls shared the trailer for her film Him at the 2025 ARTS by George! and told the Concert Hall audience about how her experiences as a scholarship recipient at George Mason shaped her life.
Email us or call 703-993-3872.
Photos from past ARTS by George! events
Presenting Sponsor
Executive Producer
Carolyn Peterson and the Peterson Family Foundation
Robert K. Purks
Producer
John and Annie Bolger
Carney Foundation
Sara Costello
Rick Davis and Julie Thompson
Nancy Jean-Louis
Marthe Lattinville-Pace
Patron
Helen and Bill Ackerman
Leroy R. Barnes, Jr.
Linda Beckman
Dr. Lisa Billingham and Mr. James Schober
Gerard and Dianne Blais & Mack and Paulette Miller
Jerry Bridges and Sally Turner
Pat and Pat Carroll & Rob and Ida Portland
Lynn Alexis Lee Corey, CIMA
Dr. Bernadette Dunham and Dr. Raymond Petryshyn
Dr. Kimberly K. Eby and Dr. José M. Cortina
Joyce Goche-Grimes
Molly Grimsley
Arthur and Linda Hamerschlag
Patron continued
Gray and Betty Hanes
Linda and Harlan Harber
Barbara and Kevin Hutto
John and Nina Toups Charitable Fund
Mary Sanders Jones
Shirley Joyce and John Nash
Tom and Pam Maskey
Lynette Matz
John and Margaret McMichael
Val S. McWhorter
Don and Sonja Palomaki & Bob and Pat Warakomsky
Ganesh and Mamta Patil
Paul P. Peou
Mayor Catherine S. Read
Joyce Remington
Richard Averill Foundation
Roberta Roumel
Thomas Sabal and Daniel Tucciarone
Dr. Victoria N. Salmon and Mr. John J. Salmon
Sumeet Shrivastava
Donn Smith and Jay Speer
Marilyn Smith
Peter N. Stearns and Donna L. Kidd
Annabelle and David Stone
Janice Sutera Wolfe and James A. Wolfe
Mary and Ed Zigo
In-Kind Partner
Your gift to ARTS by George! is also part of something bigger. Mason Now: Power the Possible is the university's largest, most ambitious campaign to date. Your gift fuels the campaign's priority of making a meaningful difference in our community.
Header image: Jennah Sidiabed, part of the cast of Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 from the School of Theater, performs an excerpt from the show during the 20th ARTS by George! event on September 27, 2025 in the deLaski Performing Arts Building on the Fairfax Campus of George Mason University. Photo Credit: Evan Cantwell/George Mason University