innovative classes

This fall, George Mason University’s dance studios buzzed with excitement as School of Dance students prepared for and performed José Limón’s 1958 original composition Missa Brevis, alongside professional dancers from the Center for the Arts artists in residence Limón Dance Company.

Christopher Kardambikis never set out to create work that would sit behind glass or live in private collections. Instead, he found his voice and purpose through publishing zines, artist books, and prints—things people could hold, trade, collect, and care about without needing a trust fund.

Historical dramas may be nothing new to the theater, but an original opera based on a landmark Supreme Court Civil Rights case? Rick Davis knew this was something different. After learning that Virginia Opera was planning to stage their new opera, Loving v. Virgina—based on the historic Supreme Court case striking down a Virginia law that banned interracial marriage—Davis seized the unique opportunity for his students. 

The new College of Visual and Performing Arts special topics course AVT 496 focuses on furniture design and is offered through the university’s School of Art. As a part of the course, the students will tour the National Gallery of Art and put what they’ve learned to practice by identifying and recommending ways to create a more welcoming environment for people to experience the art.

In February, George Mason students in a publication design course had the opportunity to design book covers for a novel that is being published by the university’s Stillhouse Press, an independent small publisher affiliated with the English Department.

A group of George Mason University mechanical engineering students are building a motorized Vitruvian man for a Center for the Arts (CFA) performance of "Flying to the Stars," a choral concert dedicated to the beginnings of flight from the time of Leonardo da Vinci to the exploration of space. 

As a movement and concept, ecological art, or eco art, stretches back decades. And EcoArt has been a part of George Mason University’s School of Art since 2010, thanks to Mark Cooley, associate professor and director of new media.

When George Mason University students sign up for Video Production for Social Change, they won’t just learn in a traditional classroom setting, they’ll make an impact in their community.

The 15 students in the special topics class Facial Reconstruction started the semester with a generic plastic skull. Week by week, they sculpted different parts of their own faces, creating a portrait of themselves in clay and learning the forensic skills needed to put a face on a skull.

School of Art professor Christopher Kardambikis was determined to focus his operations and curriculum on printmaking processes that are nontoxic, energy efficient, and supportive of the repurposing of paper scraps into new usable sheets.