The New George Mason University Studio Art Facility
A new $21 million 88,000 sq. ft. Department of Art and Visual Technology building has been designed for George Mason University by Ayers Saint Gross, a Washington D.C. based national award-winning architecture firm with a rich 90-year history of campus planning and university facility design. Through a very successful interactive design process with the George Mason University campus architects, the AVT faculty and students, and CVPA administration, the design of this facility evolved into a forward-thinking and evolutionary step for education in the visual arts at GMU.
The new building will house all AVT studio instructional areas, B.A., B.F.A. M.A.T., and M.F.A. degree programs. The vision for the new home of the Department of Art and Visual Technology is intended to expand educational program opportunities in advanced technology, offer state-of-the-art studio facilities, increase student services, expand gallery and lecture halls, and support a new community of graduate students in specially planned studio clusters. The introduction of Internet2 technology in lecture halls and studio spaces brings global opportunities for our students to participate in and collaborate with artists on national and international projects, competitions, critiques, and discussions.
As we envision the new home of Art and Visual Technology, we anticipate an overall 50% increase in space for studios, shops, and lecture classrooms. Expanded technology in large format lecture halls, specially designed spaces for student critiques and discussions, a new student print bureau, expanded gallery space and exhibition preparation facilities, expanded foundation program studios, exterior sculpture courtyard neatly dovetailed into outdoor working areas adjacent to densely forested landscape with an outdoor sculpture exhibition program all help characterize a new energy and excitement for the visual arts at George Mason University. Our new facility presents tangible opportunities for the Department of Art and Visual Technology to achieve distinguished artistic excellence for the students of George Mason University.
