CVPA faculty

Shu-Chen Cuff was born in Kaohsiung, Taiwan where she established a well-rounded background in dance with training in Ballet, Modern, Chinese Opera movements, and various Chinese folk dances.

Colleen Hayes is a new member of the Adjunct Faculty teaching Intermediate Broadway Jazz. Her 10-year performing career began with the first national tour of Catch Me If You Can.

Madeline Portnoy (she/her) is the Academic Advisor and Admissions Coordinator for the Film and Video Studies program at Mason. She graduated from George Mason University in 2021 with a Bachelor of Science in Criminology, Law, and Society, and a minor in Atmospheric Science. Outside of her Film and Video Studies responsibilities, Maddie has academic interests in religion, culture and media, and food anthropology.

Alan Caballero LaZare is a Colombian American graphic designer, artist, educator, and researcher. Alan began his career as a graphic designer at the renowned architecture and design firm Michael Graves where he played an important role in designing packaging for the revolutionary Michael Graves / Drive Medical partnership...

Kelvin Burzon is a Filipino-American artist whose work explores intersections of sexuality, race, gender and religion. His most recent work investigates religion’s role in culture and familial relationships and highlights religion’s traditions, imagery, theatricality, and psychological vestige.

My experience in the field of design has provided me with a broad view to prepare students for the future of emerging trends in Art and Design’s contemporary practice.

Ben curates and builds ongoing community-sourced public art projects that combine skateboarding, education, construction, music, media, and visual art as a socially engaged platform.

Dr. Miriam Ahmed is an Assistant Professor of graphic design at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. She delivered the Beatrice Warde Memorial Lecture for the St Bride Foundation in 2020, presented at ATypI 2020 and TypeCon 2019, and was an AIGA DC SHINE 2019-20 mentor.

Marcus Daniel is from India and began learning the piano there at the age of seven. His father, who was a pianist and choir director was his first teacher. He was classically trained and was also playing in a rock band when he discovered jazz

Amanda Snellings joined George Mason University in 2021. As the Assistant Director of Development for CVPA, Amanda secures philanthropic support for scholarships and academic programs related to the School of Theater, School of Dance, and the Reva and Sid Dewberry Family School of Music.