College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA)

George Mason University is strengthening students’ career readiness through its specialized workforce-ready minor programs. To date, 34 programs are available—and more are on the way.

Women's tennis team player Maya Bayat is a degree in finance with a minor in visual art. She also interns at two galleries and an art nonprofit, and creates her own art.

George Mason University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) celebrated the 21st annual ARTS by George! benefit event on October 3, headlined by actor and musician Jeff Goldblum and the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, raising $400,000 to support student scholarships and Mason Arts programs.

Mason Artist-in-Residence Music From The Sole arrived at George Mason last month for a week packed with workshops, classes, discussions, and community events.

Capping a year of recognition, George Mason alum Rhea Seehorn, BA Art (Studio) ’94, received an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards Monday, September 15, in Los Angeles.

This summer, George Mason University’s Veterans and the Arts Initiative, based at the Hylton Center, received two grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.

At George Mason University, learning and research aren’t limited to the classroom or the lab. Researchers, coaches, clinicians, and students are working across disciplines as a part of the university’s Living Lab, a space where real-world questions become opportunities for discovery, innovation, and care.

“Being in class with our participants reminds me of the pure joy of dance,” said School of Dance senior Emma Simons of her time interning with Dance for PD®, a movement-based class for people with Parkinson’s disease.

George Mason University alum Brendan Gottlieb, BA Film and Video Studies ’15, has been working at Disney as an animator since 2016. In 2025, he worked on two Academy Award-nominated films: he was an animator on the feature Zootopia 2, nominated for Best Animated Feature, and the animation supervisor for Forevergreen, nominated for Best Animated Short Film.

On April 25, guests gathered at the Hylton Performing Arts Center for the 2026 Gala, An Evening Above the Clouds.