Mason's College Of Visual And Performing Arts Announces 21-22 Young Alumni Commissioning Project Winners

George Mason University's College of Visual and Performing Arts has announced the recipients of the third round of its Young Alumni Commissioning Project Awards. Five alumni were chosen based on the artistic excellence, career impact, and feasibility of their proposals and will receive financial, marketing, and production support to have their projects presented by the College at a Mason venue during the 2021-2022 season.

Jada Salter (Film and Video Studies '20) received the Young Alumni Commissioning Award and $5,000 in commissioning support for Just the Two of Us, a documentary about multi-Grammy award winning musician William "Bill" Salter. Bill is the songwriter behind timeless songs such as "Just the Two of Us," "Where Is the Love," and "Mister Magic." He is also Jada's grandfather, and she is determined to tell his story as a hidden figure who has created music that millions of people relate to everyday.

Nicole Daniell (Dance '17), Nicholas Horner (Theater '18, MFA Candidate '21), Cristian Perez (Music '12), and Katherine Thompson (Visual Art '15) have received the Young Alumni Creative Development Award and will each receive $2,500 in commissioning support.

"In this third round of the Project's commissions, we received a record number of proposals, which tells us several things," said Rick Davis, Dean of Mason's College of Visual and Performing Arts. "First, that the good word is out about this initiative; second, that Mason arts alumni are some of the most imaginative and fertile creatives anywhere; and third, that the program is necessary, because young artists need support to bring their visions to life, especially in these challenging times."

Davis continued, "In fact the pool was so deep that we felt the need to increase the awards from three to five this cycle. As usual, I can't wait to see what these great project ideas turn into once they're fully developed."

Daniell receives the Creative Development Award for Isolation Stories, a dance film with a deliberate focus on exploring the synergy between dance and filmmaking technology, inspired by the pandemic. Horner's award will support his laboratory theater piece Free, a new play that "re-visions" Norman Rockwell's Americana series, "Four Freedoms." Thompson's award will support her photography project Reflections: The Black Male; which takes a hard look at the narrative surrounding different representations of the Black body, both historical and contemporary, that circulate through American popular culture in print and audio-visual media. Perez receives the award to assist in developing a new chamber music album focused on the symbolism of water as a way to unite through music and create cultural awareness, as the foundational essence of humanity.