The Young Alumni Commissioning Project from George Mason University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts is back for a second year, looking to support three alumni with grants to create new, original art pieces.
“The first round [earlier this year] yielded promising work in theater, film and photography, and we expect that we will receive another strong group of proposals,” stated Rick Davis, dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts in a recent press release.
The project is funded by a generous donation from the estate of Linda E. Gramlich and donors on Mason’s Giving Day. Its goal is to support three young alumni, who graduated in 2009 or later, with up to $5,000 in funding to create any form of art suitable for performance, exhibition or screening in a George Mason University venue.
The alumni get to decide the size, length, duration, magnitude and content of the original work, and will also be supported with the venue, production and marketing support for the eventual public showing.
The three winners of the inaugural year included Zachary Wilcox (a 2015 alumni) who received the Young Alumni Commissioning Project Award and $5,000 to support the development of his play, The Waning Island of Tangier, and why it maybe should be saved.
Photographer Valerie McKenna (a 2018 alumni) received the Young Alumni Creative Development Award and $2,500 for her landscape photography exhibit, Albright, which was on display in Buchanan Hall Atrium Gallery from August to October. Andrew Jorgenson (a 2017 alumni) received the second Young Alumni Creative Development Award and $2,500 to develop his upcoming film, The Sun and the Medicine Man.
Proposals and applications for the project are open through 11:59 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. The College of Visual and Performing Arts will host online grant writing workshops on Wednesday, Dec. 11 to assist those submitting applications. // George Mason University College of Visual and Performing Arts: 4400 University Drive, Fairfax
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