INTRODUCING THE REVA AND SID DEWBERRY FAMILY SCHOOL OF MUSIC

In March, George Mason University’s Board of Visitors announced that the School of Music would officially become the Reva and Sid Dewberry Family School of Music. This renaming honors the Dewberry family and their lifetime legacy of giving to the school and makes it the first donor-named school within the College of Visual and Performing Arts. The exciting change was honored at the Grand Piano Celebration online concert.

In previous years, the Dewberrys have made contributions of nearly $1.4 million to create the Linda Apple Monson Scholars Fund and have helped lead the Steinway Initiative that allowed the school to achieve even higher status as an All-Steinway School in 2007. Recent and pledged support of $1.8 million will fund the creation of a scholarship endowment.

During the virtual event, it was also revealed that recent additional gifts from the Dewberrys would increase the total commitment to $5 million for the Monson Scholars Endowed Fund. The Dewberrys are joined by generous donors Nina Toups, the Claude Moore Foundation, and Anne and Ronald Abramson in this effort to further support scholarships for Mason music students.

The Dewberry family has a long-standing commitment to Mason, reflected in the naming of Dewberry Hall within the Johnson Center and the Sid and Reva Dewberry Department of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering within the Volgenau School of Engineering.

Sid Dewberry, Philanthropist,

who began piano lessons with

Linda Monson at age 75 to

fulfill a lifelong goal

The School of Art proudly hosted the DC National Portfolio Day on November 2, 2019. The 2019-2020 academic year marked the first time the event was held at George Mason University, and it was a great success. Each year, this event, designed to give future art students access to many schools, is hosted by a prominent university art program in the region.

Held in the Art and Design Building, this collaborative recruiting event, welcomed 52 art institutions from around the country for an opportunity to meet more than 550 promising students. Under one roof, the high school art students were able to have their portfolios reviewed by multiple colleges and universities they may be interested in attending and learn about their programs. The event is competitive, with the most sought after students even receiving preliminary acceptance into art programs on the spot.

The beautiful studios, galleries, and all that Mason’s School of Art has to offer greeted these visitors from near and far. In fact, the demand for portfolio review by our own art faculty was so high that it kept ten reviewers busy all day. Prospective students also had the opportunity to explore what it would be like to attend Mason by participating in the school’s open house happening in its state-of-the-art facilities on the same day. According to Bobby Yi, Assistant Director, School of Art, “With over 1,000 visitors, students, and representatives from across the nation, this event placed Mason and the School of Art’s worldclass resources on center stage. The impact of the event’s success is reflected in the 20% increase in enrollment for 2020-2021.” “With over 1,000 visitors, students, and representatives from across the nation, this event placed Mason and the School of Art’s world-class resources on center stage. The impact of the event’s success is reflected in the 20% increase in enrollment for 2020-2021.”

Bobby Yi,

Assistant Director, School of Art