Be Treated as a Professional as You Become One
On the first day of class, our programs instantly immerse you in your art and present a world of opportunity that goes way beyond textbooks and tests. At George Mason University, we create artistic professionals ready to work upon graduation.
We Take a Hands-On Approach
You'll take practical courses designed to prepare you for the high demands of your craft while keeping your unique needs in mind. This hands-on approach allows you to experience the arts for yourself. Programs also provide incredible opportunities to take you out of the conventional classroom and into the community and even around the world. From day one, you'll make your mark at George Mason.
Can't wait to get started? You don't have to—you can do any of the following and more:
- join an ensemble
- write a screenplay for a movie
- audition for a theater role
- dance in professionally produced performances
- produce professional artwork for clients
- get to work backstage in a play, or
- join an organization from the time you walk onto campus.
From master classes to internships, portfolio and audition training to off-campus work partnerships and entrepreneurship-based courses, you'll have access to experiences that will make your résumé sing. Students who take advantage of these opportunities discover they're qualified for many fulfilling careers, whether they follow a traditional path or blaze their own trails.
Four CVPA students have their original animations displayed on screens in six Metro stations in D.C. as part of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) Art in Transit Program. These animations will be on rotation in the stations for a full year but this is part of a longer 5-year partnership. Computer Game Design student, Valeria Hunt, said of her animation: "My stop-motion cut-out animation, Man with the Suitcase, portrays moments from everyday life that many people can relate to....Man with the Suitcase is about daily struggles, with a touch of humor to help us get through the day."
Four CVPA students have their original animations displayed on screens in six Metro stations in D.C. as part of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) Art in Transit Program. These animations will be on rotation in the stations for a full year but this is part of a longer 5-year partnership. Art student, Joseph Cameron Rhodes Murdock, says of his animation, 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....My greatest joy is to create inhabitants of worlds, not just creatures that look cool but ones that have purpose."
In the Fall of 2023, George Mason University Master of Art Teaching student, Emely Ramos, painted a 209 ft long x 7 ft tall mural featuring a series of iconic women throughout different periods of fashion for Tysons Corner Center, called Icons of Fashion. These notable figures are displayed in a runway format to showcase their memorable outfits. Tysons is the most "high-profile" client Murals at Mason has worked with so far, and the commission was only Emely's second (and the largest) mural she has done so far.
In the summer of 2022, senior Sonja Phillips-Thomas (Film and Music double major), interned at National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington D.C.
Ali Coburn poses at Atlas Theater in Washington, D.C. where she works throughout the year. Arts Management major and rising senior Alexandra “Ali” Coburn loves working on and off the stage. In 2023, she was needing to complete volunteer hours for the Intro to Arts Management course and Erin Feng, the executive director of Capital City Symphony offered her an internship. Coburn’s responsibilities include creating content for their social media pages, various writing assignments, and designing their quarterly newsletter. Coburn designed the company’s first newsletter in five years.
In November 2022, senior Painting major Katherine Ashby was commissioned by Gunston Hall to create life-size portraits of George Mason IV and other people who lived at Gunston Hall, including some of the people held in slavery there.
Film and Video Studies major Sami Saab interned at DC Camera.
Four CVPA students have their original animations displayed on screens in six Metro stations in D.C. as part of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) Art in Transit Program. These animations will be on rotation in the stations for a full year but this is part of a longer 5-year partnership. School of Art student, Taka Hunter, says of his animation: “Ichi Nichi (One Day) is a short piece made up of day-to-day moments....If there’s anything I want to achieve with Ichi Nichi, it’s to make someone feel seen.”
Four CVPA students have their original animations displayed on screens in six Metro stations in D.C. as part of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) Art in Transit Program. These animations will be on rotation in the stations for a full year but this is part of a longer 5-year partnership. School of Art student, Jennifer Perez, says of her work, "Stardust Playground is a fantastical, loose reimagining of a childhood memory of a family trip to a swimming pool....These free-spirited animal characters joyfully play in zero gravity."
Ying Wang designed an augmented reality (AR) game as part of an independent study project in George Mason's Computer Game Design Program. She developed the concept and created 2D and 3D child-friendly animated characters. Wang, who was a student in Director Sang Nam’s GAME 399 Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality Design course in Fall 2020, said she’s proud to see her app come to fruition, and she encourages children to do their own part to overcome this pandemic by following the simple steps featured in her app.
For the second year running, George Mason students, faculty, and staff of the CVPA Green Machine Ensembles played in front of the White House at the annual Easter Egg Roll on April 1, 2024.
George Mason student Mirella Guzman-Escobar, studying Graphic Design at the School of Art, interned at House Creative Services, Chief Administrative Officer at the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington D.C.
Film and Video Studies major Jacques Lykes interned at House Creative Services, Chief Administrative Officer at the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington D.C. Ron Aira/Creative Services/George Mason University
Arts Management graduate students assist George Mason's Campus Curator for Mason Exibitions, Don Russell, with the installation Migratory Aesthetics in the Gillespie Gallery of Art.