Located in the Heart of the Arts
Situated in the vibrant and culturally diverse region of Northern Virginia, George Mason University offers proximity to museums, galleries, art festivals, and other artistic events. Students have the opportunity to engage with the local arts community, gaining exposure to a wide range of artistic expressions and networking opportunities.
The Washington D.C. metro area is rich in art venues such as the Smithsonian Institution, including the National Gallery of Art, the National Portrait Gallery, the Renwick Gallery, the Hirshhorn Museum, the National Museum of African Art, and the Phillips Collection, the Kreeger Museum, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts.
Local and touring artists often conduct master classes and rehearsals or hold conversation sessions.
Some Area Exhibition Galleries
Workhouse Arts Center, Lorton, VA
Located in a former Workhouse correctional facility, The Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, Virginia, has programs in the visual arts, performing arts, and art education. The School of Art and Workhouse Arts Center began their partnership in the summer of 2012. Through this partnership, the Art Lab, an installation space for our graduate students in building W-16 of the the Workhouse Arts Center, developed. During the fall and spring semesters, the School of Art’s staff and the Workhouse Arts Center’s visual arts staff collaborate on a schedule of professionally prepared and organized exhibitions featuring our graduate students.
Torpedo Factory Art Center, Alexandria, VA
Founded in 1974 in an old munitions plant, the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, VA, is home to the nation’s largest collection of working-artists’ open studios under one roof. Find artists actively creating work in a wide variety of media–including painting, ceramics, photography, jewelry, stained glass, fiber, printmaking, and sculpture–in 71 artists’ studios. The Art Center values a diverse community of artists and staff that reflects representation from different social, economic, and cultural backgrounds, as well as different artistic media, styles, and forms of expression. The Art Center values artists of all stages of their career, regardless of their formal arts training.
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virginia, is one of the largest comprehensive art museums and educational institutions in the United States. Opened in 1936, the VMFA presents a wide array of special exhibitions and a global collection of art that spans more than 6,000 years. VMFA’s permanent holdings encompass nearly 40,000 artworks, including the largest public collection of Fabergé outside of Russia, the finest collection of Art Nouveau outside of Paris, and one of the nation’s finest collections of American art. VMFA is also home to important collections of Chinese art, English silver, and French Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, British sporting, and modern and contemporary art, as well as renowned South Asian, Himalayan, and African art.
Glenstone, Potomac, MD
Glenstone is a private contemporary art museum in Potomac, Maryland, founded in 2006 by billionaire American businessman Mitchell Rales and his wife, Emily Wei Rales. The museum's exhibitions are drawn from a collection of about 1,300 works from post-World War II artists around the world. It is the largest private contemporary art museum in the United States, holding more than $4.6 billion in net assets, and is noted for its setting in a broad natural landscape. The works are presented in a series of refined indoor and outdoor spaces designed to facilitate meaningful encounters for visitors. Glenstone is a place that seamlessly integrates art, architecture, and nature into a serene and contemplative environment.