George Mason University has begun raising money in earnest to help fund a $70 million makeover of its performing arts center in Fairfax.
Publicly launched yesterday (Wednesday), the “Give Voice” initiative seeks to raise $35 million for a renovation of the Center for the Arts, the 1,935-seat concert hall at 4373 Mason Pond Drive. The university itself is expected to match the private donations with an additional $35 million.
As part of the renovation, the venue will be renamed the Barry Dewberry and Arlene Evans Center for the Arts after two philanthropists who kickstarted the fundraising campaign with a $10 million gift in April 2022, the GMU College of Visual and Performing Arts announced.
With another $8 million pledged by other donors, including $6 million from the Peterson Family Foundation, the campaign is already halfway to its goal.
The Peterson family made two separate donations: $1 million in 2022 to support improvements to the center’s lobby and $5 million announced last April that will go toward the concert hall. In recognition of the gifts, the facilities will be renamed as the Peterson Family Lobby and Peterson Auditorium.
“For decades, our Center for the Arts has been a beacon for talent and innovation, a proving ground for students learning their craft and pursuing their passions, and home to world-class performances as the cultural hub of our region,” GMU President Gregory Washington said in a press release. “The Give Voice initiative will ensure that the arts remain a front door to the university, as they have been for 6.5 million patrons who have been enriched and inspired by their shared experiences in this storied building.”
Opened in 1990, the Center for the Arts hosts a variety of both professional and student performances, including classical and pop music, theater, opera and dance. It’s one of the main concert venues for the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra, along with Capital One Hall in Tysons.
With GMU’s student body booming to nearly 40,000 people in the U.S., the center is in need of modernization to meet their technological needs as well as those of visiting professional artists, the College of Visual and Performing Arts says.
According to the website for the Give Voice initiative, the renovation will update the acoustics, sightlines and accessibility of the concert hall, adding center aisles on both the balcony and orchestra levels. The lobby will also be remodeled with new spaces for performances and gallery exhibitions, enhanced cafe and bar service, and reception areas for the ticket office.
Other improvements will include additional classroom, rehearsal and community spaces, a new donor lounge and hospitality area, expanded restrooms and a second elevator.
With a planning study to finalize the project scope and cost only just about to get underway, no firm timeline for the renovation has been determined, but construction is expected to take about 18 months, likely starting at the end of a spring semester to take advantage of the summer when most students are off-campus.
During construction, artistic performances will be relocated to other venues, including the smaller Harris Theatre (4471 Aquia Creek Lane) in Fairfax, which completed its own renovation in 2022, and the Hylton Performing Arts Center (10960 George Mason Circle) on GMU’s Science and Technology Campus in Manassas.
The college says it will also partner with other venues in Northern Virginia “to be announced at a later date.”
“So many people have told us that there are really two eras in George Mason history — before and after the Center for the Arts opened its doors,” College of Visual and Performing Arts Dean Rick Davis said. “I think this transformation will be thought of in the same way in years to come, as we create a modern, technology-rich, visually stunning, and artist- and audience-friendly home for all who enjoy the arts, whether as a creator or an audience member.”
The Give Voice initiative is part of a larger, $1 billion capital fundraising campaign called “Mason Now: Power the Possible” that GMU launched in April 2023. The campaign is intended to support the university’s ambitions for the next 50 years, which range from increasing student scholarships and services to opening a new school of medicine.
Per the press release, priorities for Mason Arts on top of the Center for the Arts renovation include:
student scholarships; the development of a George Mason Arts District with sculpture installations on the Fairfax Campus; expanding facilities for the growing Film and Video Studies and Computer Game Design programs; support for chair positions and professorships to recruit and retain outstanding faculty; funds to create a concept plan for an art museum; and the Hylton Performing Arts Center Endowment Fund, supporting its performances and arts education opportunities for the public, veterans, and students of all ages.
