College of Visual and Performing Arts

Meet the �鶹��Ƶ Nation: John Forgy

lclarkg — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 14:35:49 +0000

Meet the �鶹��Ƶ Nation: John Forgy lclarkg Tue, 03/24/2026 - 10:35

Name: John Forgy

Job: Environmental Graphic Designer and Sign Program Manager, Campus Planning, Facilities and Campus Operations

Imagine exploring a new location—an unfamiliar city, shopping center, sports stadium, or even a college campus—and not finding any signage to help you get around.

We rely on a countless number of signs each day, whether we are driving, walking through a neighborhood, shopping at the grocery store, or going from building to building on campus. John Forgy, environmental graphic designer and sign program manager at �鶹��Ƶ, creates the wayfinding systems that guide students, faculty, staff, and visitors across the university’s campuses and sites.

All roads lead to George �鶹��Ƶ: John Forgy's work on university signage helps students, faculty, staff, and visitors find their way around the campuses. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

Enter here: After graduating from George �鶹��Ƶ, Forgy, BA Studio Art ’89, started working at an environmental graphic design firm in Washington, D.C. He worked on projects in experiential design, which merges graphic, architectural, interior, and landscape design to enhance how people interact with built environments.

Points of interest: “I was fortunate enough to work on a wide variety of projects like higher education, museums, sports facilities, concert halls, hospitals, commercial buildings, and campus wayfinding programs,” Forgy said. He always enjoyed higher education projects, which prepared him to start working at George �鶹��Ƶ in 2012.

Brand builder: Forgy’s main responsibility is to integrate the university brand into the built environment. He manages the development, implementation, and maintenance of interior and exterior wayfinding signs, code-required signs, recognition signs, and more. “I also document all of the sign systems in use and plan for the future growth of signage and graphics programs at George �鶹��Ƶ,” Forgy said.

John Forgy is responsible for designing campus signage that translates the university's brand into the built environment. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

Different directions: Across multiple campuses and sites, there are a lot of signs to design, create, and manage. Signs are fabricated in the university’s sign shop located on the Fairfax Campus or by contractors off-site.

“George �鶹��Ƶ is like a small city, which means I get to work on a wide range of projects for a variety of clients,” Forgy said. “Every day is different, and I’m never bored.”

Caution ahead: Because signage is a long-lasting investment for the university, Forgy must balance his focus between present needs and planning for the future. “Much of what I do sets the standard for the future,” he said. “Sometimes that means taking extra time to think way ahead when a project comes to me without a previous precedent.”

Place-making: Some of Forgy’s most memorable projects include a collaboration with the City of Fairfax to apply “We Are �鶹��Ƶ” decals on several streets in the city and on the campuses, as well as an exterior wayfinding sign refresh taking shape this year. “Anytime you see your work come to life, it’s exciting,” Forgy said. “Getting positive feedback from the George �鶹��Ƶ community, especially from the students, is very satisfying.”

Taking a detour: Outside work, Forgy enjoys history, restoring his ’77 Bronco, and music. He spent more than 23 years working part-time in radio as air talent. Forgy got his start in radio during college at George �鶹��Ƶ’s WGMU, where he worked as a DJ and a production director. “I might have switched majors if I wasn't so far along pursuing my art degree,” Forgy said.

The “On Air” sign takes on extra meaning, in this case.

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Off the Clock: Physicist Paul So boosts the momentum of visual artists

lclarkg — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 13:55:06 +0000

Off the Clock: Physicist Paul So boosts the momentum of visual artists lclarkg Wed, 03/18/2026 - 09:55

As a professor in �鶹��Ƶ’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, Paul So is a theoretical physicist who specializes in dynamical systems analysis and its application to neuroscience. Alongside colleagues and students, he studies the behaviors that emerge from large populations of neurons, or nerve cells, which carry electrical and chemical signals through the brain and body.

Outside his role as a physics professor, So is an artist. An avid painter, he also supports developing artists as a co-founder of Hamiltonian Artists, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit art incubator based in Washington, D.C.

Paul So, professor in �鶹��Ƶ's Department of Physics and Astronomy, supports developing artists through his work with the nonprofit organization Hamiltonian Artists. Photo by Hamiltonian Artists

While there are major differences between the study of physics and neuroscience and the creation of visual art, there are also similarities. Both practices turn abstract concepts into something more concrete. Neurons receive sensory input and process complex information for the nervous system. Neurons are hard at work whenever art affects human emotions and provokes a response.

We asked So to tell us about his experiences as an artist, scientist, and how his nonprofit has helped support individuals building careers in the visual arts field.

Please share a bit about Hamiltonian Artists, its mission, and the fellowship program.

Hamiltonian Artists is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit art incubator with a mission to nurture community and increase access to space, opportunity, and resources for emerging artists through impactful programs and exhibitions.

The Hamiltonian Fellowship Program is anchored around a large exhibition space in Washington, D.C. Over the course of our two-year program, the Hamiltonian Fellows are provided with exhibition opportunities and access to a network of mentors: local professional artists, gallerists, museum professionals, academics, and art collectors.

How did you first get started as an artist? What inspired you to create a nonprofit that supports visual artists?

I began painting as a teenager. While pursuing my BS in physics and mathematics at Harvey Mudd College, I took studio art classes through a consortium available with other Claremont Colleges. I completed all of the coursework required for a BA in Studio Art at Scripps College. However, because Harvey Mudd did not offer a degree in studio art, I was not able to receive an additional BA in that field.

I continued painting while working toward my PhD in physics and during my career as a professor at George �鶹��Ƶ. When my first study leave opportunity arose, I began thinking about how I might reconnect my artistic interests with my scientific career. Reflecting on my own academic journey, I realized how greatly I had benefited from the mentorship and guidance I received during my doctoral and postdoctoral years. As an artist, I recognized the lack of a comparable career-development support structure for visual artists.

This led me to consider the idea of creating a “postdoc in art” model for emerging artists. In 2007, with faculty members in George �鶹��Ƶ’s College of Visual and Performing Arts and several other like-minded artists and arts leaders in Washington, D.C., we founded Hamiltonian Artists.

Hamiltonian Artists serves as an incubator for the professional development of emerging visual artists in Washington, D.C. Photo by Hannah Chen/Hamiltonian Artists

As a professor of physics, do you see any overlap between your work in that field and your work as an artist?

Creativity is one of the most important elements in approaching both a physics question and an artistic pursuit. Although the practices themselves may differ, a good artist researches their subject and approaches their craft with as much rigor as a good researcher in physics.

At the same time, the two disciplines differ in how they engage with and interpret the world. The strength of the natural sciences lies in their evidence-based approach to understanding the natural world. While insight and creativity play important roles in scientific discovery, the process ultimately relies on the scientific method and experimental verifications.

While logic and structure are also important in the arts, the creation of an enduring and impactful work of art—its cultural resonance and relevance over time—often depends on intuition and emotional understanding.

What has been the most meaningful experience you’ve had with Hamiltonian Artists?

One of the most meaningful and satisfying aspects has been seeing many of our Hamiltonian Artists alumni return as mentors, board members, and supporters. Their continued commitment has helped sustain the organization and guide its journey into the next decade and beyond.

Have you learned any lessons through your experiences as an artist, or as a founder of Hamiltonian Artists?

After seeing so many Hamiltonian Fellows pass through our program over the past 20 years, I have come to realize that they are far better artists than I am. I often joke that if I were to apply to the Hamiltonian Fellowship myself as an artist, I would most likely not be selected.

At the same time, I have developed a deep appreciation for the dedication required to sustain a professional artistic practice. Making a living as an artist is not easy. Many successful, practicing artists hold two jobs: one to support themselves, and another devoted to maintaining their creative practice. The latter often involves producing new work, connecting with other artists, promoting one’s work, attending exhibitions and openings, and participating in the broader artistic community.

Beyond providing the practical tools of professional development to our fellows, I have come to recognize that Hamiltonian also serves another important purpose. It offers emerging artists—many of whom have just completed their MFA or BFA—a supportive space in which to try to build a professional career… [and] a community they can rely on as they continue their artistic journeys.

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George �鶹��Ƶ and Walter Reed Bethesda collaborate to support veterans through the arts

Shayla Brown — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 15:33:46 +0000

George �鶹��Ƶ and Walter Reed Bethesda collaborate to support veterans through the arts Shayla Brown Mon, 11/10/2025 - 10:33

This year marks the 10th anniversary of �鶹��Ƶ's Veterans and the Arts Initiative—an important example of George �鶹��Ƶ's long-standing commitment to assisting military-connected learners as they embark on new paths following their service.

Since 2014, the Veterans and the Arts Initiative has reached more than 20,000 military-connected community members by offering everything from hands-on workshops to art exhibitions and concerts—all designed with veterans, service members, military family members, and military caregivers in mind.

What began as a yearly effort to offer gratitude to veterans each Veterans Day by providing a creative outlet at the Hylton Performing Arts Center on the Science and Technology Campus has grown into a thriving hub—a place where art meets community, providing a much-needed space for the military community.

Coinciding with its 10-year milestone, the initiative once again received the opportunity to join forces with the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center's Arts in Health Program to discuss how to help servicemembers and their families through the process of injury recovery and the transition from military to civilian life.

The seeds of the Walter Reed collaboration were planted in 2018, when Niyati Dhokai, who leads George �鶹��Ƶ's Veterans and the Arts Initiative, was asked to be a panelist at a Creative Forces: National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Military Healing Arts Network event. It was there that Dhokai met Captain (Ret.) Moira G. McGuire, founding chief of the Arts in Health Program at Walter Reed Bethesda.

Later, when Dhokai and her team were selected for a contract to create an artist vetting process for McGuire's newly formed Arts in Health Program, the relationship continued to grow. The program was established to support servicemembers recovering from traumatic brain injuries and psychological health conditions.

At the time, Walter Reed Bethesda was the first destination stateside for all wounded and ill service members, McGuire said.

Over several months, the George �鶹��Ƶ and Walter Reed teams examined the program from multiple perspectives, aiming to determine how resources could have the greatest impact, explained McGuire.

Dhokai (right) and McGuire (left) presenting at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Healing Arts Week Research Symposium. Photo by NYU Steinhardt.

In addition, McGuire co-taught AMGT 599 Managing Arts Programs in Healthcare with Dhokai, who is also a research associate professor at George �鶹��Ƶ's College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA), at George �鶹��Ƶ in fall 2023, emphasizing the importance of the arts in healthcare and how it can be implemented safely.

More recently Dhokai, McGuire, and their colleagues presented a panel titled "Supporting the Well-being and Social Connectedness of Military-Connected Communities through Clinical and Community-Based Arts Workshops" at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Healing Arts Week Research Symposium, which was produced by the Jameel Arts & Health Lab and the World Health Organization, in September 2025 in New York City.

The research symposium centered around the idea of engaging in the arts being recognized as a health behavior—like sleep, nutrition, exercise, time in nature, and social connection. Attendees included local and international policy leaders, cultural leaders, health providers, practitioners across disciplines, and students.

Dhokai said the Veterans and the Arts Initiative isn't just offering workshops; it's about creating a space where veterans, service members, and their families can explore creativity as families, as friends, and as people sharing similar experiences.

"As a program director, my joy is creating these welcoming, supportive programs," said Dhokai, who is also a George �鶹��Ƶ alumna. "Our team includes faculty, staff, and arts practitioners, and we're always evolving our workshops to meet the needs of participants."

George �鶹��Ƶ's School of Art, Dewberry School of Music, and the Arts Management Program have all contributed to the initiative. Some veterans are even teaching classes for the initiative.

Current George �鶹��Ƶ student and Air Force veteran Valerie Acosta-Gonzalez will be the lead instructor for the upcoming Gel Printed Journals series.

A senior art and visual technology major, Acosta-Gonzalez says her own life has been positively influenced by using art as a tool for self-care. Her mediums include acrylic, gouache, watercolors, pencils, pens, clay and wood. Her art has been exhibited at the Arches Gallery in the Workhouse Arts Center in Virginia.

Her favorite thing about conducting workshops with veterans is the camaraderie. "Making art is vulnerable, and when you show veterans how they can use the language of art to express things that others may not quite fully understand, you inevitably create a bond," Acosta-Gonzalez said. "We already have our military experiences in common, and we can add a deeper layer of meaning by creating art together."

Dhokai said that the connections the initiative makes with the military families extends beyond a single workshop offering. "For example, we held a songwriting series for military children in collaboration with �鶹��Ƶ Community Arts Academy, and now some of those kids are participating in our Veterans Guitar Workshop Series. Additionally, student veteran alumni take workshops after they graduate," she said.

Dhokai and her staff continue to collect data longitudinally to understand how community-based arts projects have a role in the ongoing support of military-connected individuals.

Three major themes that emerged from initial participant responses and that continue to be highlighted by participants are increased interest in learning new skills, social connectedness, and a sense of well-being.

The program is just one of many ways George �鶹��Ƶ supports its military-connected students, who make up about 10% of the student population.

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Podcast: Best of Access to Excellence

Sarah Holland — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 18:21:20 +0000

Podcast: Best of Access to Excellence Sarah Holland Wed, 08/27/2025 - 14:21

Photo by Cristian Torres/Office of University Branding

For this special "Best Of" episode, we've compiled some of our most thought-provoking and compelling conversations between President Washington and our accomplished faculty.

We'll revisit discussions that are more relevant than ever—from the vast mysteries of the cosmos to the hidden power of coffee grounds—to see how George �鶹��Ƶ is blazing a path of innovation to develop bold solutions for our world's grand challenges.

Read the transcript

Transcript

Intro (00:04):
Trailblazers in research, innovators in technology, and those who simply have a good story: all make up the fabric that is �鶹��Ƶ, where taking on the grand challenges that face our students, graduates, inand higher education is our mission and our passion. Hosted by �鶹��Ƶ President Gregory Washington, this is the Access to Excellence podcast.

Narrator (00:28):
Welcome to a special edition of the Access to Excellence podcast. For this special Best-Of episode, we've compiled some of our most thought-provoking and compelling conversations with President Washington. We'll revisit discussions that are more relevant than ever, from the complexities of artificial intelligence and the science of space, to the incredible capacity of humans for both evil and good. But to begin, we should zoom out. As an R-1 research institution and Virginia's largest public university, George �鶹��Ƶ is organizing its vast research capabilities around what President Washington calls the Grand Challenge Initiative. He sat down with Andre Marshall, the vice president for research, innovation, and economic impact at George �鶹��Ƶ to explain what that means for our community.

President Washington (01:20):
Well, look, I talked about the grand challenge issue, but you know, we often get the question, what is a grand challenge? So, given that this is a big part of your portfolio going forward, I'm asking you: what's a grand challenge?

Andre Marshall (01:34):
Alright, well, we spent really a lot of time thinking about this and for �鶹��Ƶ, from our perspective, the Grand Challenge initiative, it's all about the future. And specifically as we thought about kind of what that means to operationalize this, we developed four criteria for what a grand challenge is. So, a grand challenge is large and enduring. And what we mean by that is we are not trying to solve the little problems. As you say, we are focused on the big rocks and we're not looking for quick fixes. Alright? We want to have a solution that lasts,

President Washington (02:16):
Give me an example. Not in one of our solutions, but give me an specific example of a grand challenge.

Andre Marshall (02:22):
A grand challenge that comes to mind would be a cure for sickle cell, for example. You know, that challenge impacts people globally. There's a lot of suffering associated with that. It, it changes people's lives. And so if you can address those kinds of issues, you can really make a difference. And guess what: It's big, and if you solve it, you've solved it. And that's what I mean by, you know, doing something that is big and enduring. You know, also a grand challenge is complex and it requires people from not just across the, the university, but it requires external partners. So what we mean by, you know, this kind of complex, interdisciplinary and external partner criterion, is that you can't do it alone, right? You need people, the problem is bigger than just you. Alright, so we got grand challenges that are big and they endure and they require multiple partners.

Andre Marshall (03:36):
Um, and now let's talk about this third criterion. And this is focused on �鶹��Ƶ. Look, we need to focus on challenges that we can really do something about. And that aligns with our strengths, our assets, and our core values. So we want things that mean something to �鶹��Ƶ in terms of our values and our expertise and strengths. And then finally, this fourth criterion is that we want to move the needle and to make a difference. So we don't want our, our, our activities to just be a drop in the bucket. The things that we work on, they're going to really make a change. They're not just gonna be additive. And so we have to be careful about the problems that we choose and the challenges that we choose so that they're aligned with our strengths and that we can really do something.

President Washington (04:35):
So we have world-class faculty focused on a whole host of issues, right? From poverty to health, to engineering and science. How would you recommend we focus our effort? I know you, you had a committee. This committee has met for a significant period of time, some of our best and brightest faculty, and you all tackled this issue. So talk a little bit about deploying our resources and focus.

Andre Marshall (05:02):
I appreciate that question and I appreciate the intentionality of this question. We really need to deploy our resources. We need to deploy our entire research enterprise for action and for impact, especially considering all the headwinds that we have right now. We've got, uh, resource limitations in terms of research. We have increased competition for talent and resources, and we have changing priorities in the research landscape to, to be frank. And so we have to be intentional about how we're gonna deploy our resources and our research enterprise. Well, our faculty, they're committed to making a difference. So we, we need to honor that they are committed to having an impact and changing the world. So, you know, that's our foundation. That we want to do something right, that the faculty care about, that they're good at that is really gonna make a difference. So we put together, uh, as you mentioned this committee, we talked about so many different possibilities of what we could do. There were 84 different ideas that came up.

President Washington (06:21):
So there, so there was a big focusing effort that happened to get it down to six. One, advancing 21st century education for all two, building a climate resilient society. Three, driving responsible digital innovation and sustainable infrastructure. Four, improving human health, wellbeing and preparedness. Five, preparing for space exploration, research and collaboration. And six, strengthening peace, trust and engagement in democracy.

Narrator (07:04):
And it's in the spirit of that last grand challenge--strengthening peace and trust--that we turn to Rick Davis, Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts. He shared his vision for the future of the arts at George �鶹��Ƶ and the power of art in creating community.

President Washington (07:20):
So last year, uh, you gave a presentation to the Board of Visitors and you began that presentation with your mantra: the arts create community. Talk to us about the tagline, what inspired it and what does it actually mean?

Rick Davis (07:38):
Oh, thank you. I call it my forward elevator speech because it encapsulates basically everything I believe about the value of the arts. And I'm going back historically, you know, to to ancient civilizations that that created, you know, theater and dance and music and, and cave paintings and, and sculptures and everything that, that the way the arts have always expressed themselves. Why were they born and why do they exist? Because people need occasions to come together. And for a lot of people, religion forms that function and religion in the arts have a, a strong connection, sometimes very tense connection, but, but a very strong connection in terms of ritual and in terms of, of symbolism. For some people, sports frankly create that opportunity. For me as well. uh, I know for you, you know, we love to go to a, a sporting event because it's a ritual, right?

Rick Davis (08:27):
It's a it's a collective experience. We all see the same thing and react, maybe not in the same way, but if everybody reacts right, you can be booing and cheering, uh, at the same play depending on your team. But you're reacting and you're reacting as part of a community. Same thing happens in a, in a play or an opera. The same thing happens quietly in an art museum because people are walking by a, a painting or, or standing in, in front of a sculpture and it catches them and it stops them. It interrupts their day a little bit. And great paintings, one person stops and then another person stops, and then another person stops. And suddenly you get a little audience <laugh> right in front. And it's amazing what happens there because everybody's concentrating on the same thing for a little while. You know, in the case of a play, it might be two hours or three hours, or god knows, four hours, uh, <laugh>.

Rick Davis (09:14):
But the value of bringing people together in, in common contemplation or having a common experience, I think is really vital to civilization. And I'm not being hyperbolic here. I think civilization requires opportunities for people to come together and witness things collectively, and then form their own conclusions. But when you go to a play that's working, whether it's a comedy or a tragedy or anything in between, and you feel that unanimity or that variety, but also people breathing together, laughing together, crying together, you are part of a temporary community that actually reminds us all of our common humanity.

President Washington (09:53):
Well, you can't talk about community without talking about the two pillars of bringing folk together in that community. And so I want to talk about 'em separately here, but what makes the center of the arts a critical part of the arts community for both George �鶹��Ƶ and for the region?

Rick Davis (10:12):
So the Center for the Arts in Fairfax is, of course, our signature facility here on the, on the Fairfax campus, where we do the vast majority of our, of our instruction. The Center for the Arts was created out of the mind of President George Johnson, quite literally, uh, and his wife, Joanne, to say, let, let's put George �鶹��Ƶ on the map as a place where the arts are happening, and how are we gonna do that? 'cause we don't really have big arts programs yet. So we have to bring in, we have to bring the world to Fairfax. We have to bring Yo-Yo Ma to Fairfax. We have to bring Michael Feinstein to Fairfax. We have to bring these incredible artists. We, uh, you know, Roberta Peters, Denise Graves--great top level artists, right? Who came to and are still coming every year to Fairfax. And that was something that changed the campus culture.

Rick Davis (10:58):
If you talk to Visitor Horace Blackman, former rector of our board, who was a student here during the opening. He, he started in the late eighties, graduated in the early nineties. He will tell you, he's told me that the opening of the Center for the Arts changed George �鶹��Ƶ completely. Because all of a sudden the world was coming to �鶹��Ƶ. You had a place to go on the weekends. You had meaningful things to do. You had the opportunity to be part of the world conversation about music and dance and theater. And that gave everybody, not only on campus, but in the whole sort of Northern Virginia region, a rallying point. It literally created a community. And from that, we have built the academic programs because the presence of all these wonderful artists that come in over the course of a season has also benefited our students tremendously.

President Washington (11:48):
So talk to us a little bit about the other core facility we have for bringing the community together: the Hylton Performing Arts Center. And that's on our science and technology campus in Manassas.

Rick Davis (12:01):
Oh, I'd love to. We built the Hylton Center. And by the way, for everybody listening on the podcast, that's H-Y-L-T-O-N, right? It's, it's not the, not the hotel chain, it's the Hylton Foundation. And a man named Conrad Hylton, uh, who was a major developer in, in the Prince William County area. Uh, they gave the naming gift for that back in the mid two thousands. The facility opened in 2010. And we built that essentially as an expression of George �鶹��Ƶ's commitment to community partnerships, because Prince William County and the city of Manassas essentially asked us if we would partner with them to create a distinctive representative inspiring cultural facility that would help their city and county, and that region, take the next step into the community that they wanted to become. So we, we bill ourselves...I, this is a term I use a lot...we bill ourselves as a symbol of change and as an agent of change, we're doing both of those things in Sci, at SciTech.

Rick Davis (13:02):
This is one of the most beautiful theaters anywhere on the East Coast. The architecture is distinctive from the moment you walk into the lobby. Every space is designed with architectural distinction in mind. The acoustics in the main hall are praised by every single artist who comes in, whether they're a classical conductor or a pianist, or a jazz player, or a bluegrass musician. Everybody loves playing in that hall. And perhaps most importantly, it has uplifted the local and regional arts community to a very high degree, the Manassas Ballet, the Manassas Chorale, the Manassas Symphony, Prince William Little Theater, a youth orchestra that's going by the name of the Onyx Project now CAPAC--the Creative and Performing Arts Center from, from Woodbridge--these entities, which all preexisted the Hylton, but were doing their work in middle school auditoriums and, you know, church basements and everything. Now they have, truly, a world-class facility to play in. And over these 15 years that we've been operating, their work has gotten bigger and better and more popular, and they've attracted more people in the audience. But just as importantly for them, they've attracted more people on stage, more people to participate in these community-based artistic expressions. So it's been a, it's been a huge success for the community and for George �鶹��Ƶ as well, because people see us as the purveyor and the partner that without us, this, this thing wouldn't have happened.

President Washington (14:25):
And I'll, and I'll be honest with you, this, the acoustics, the layout, first of all, it looks like a classical theater.

Rick Davis (14:32):
Yeah.

President Washington (14:33):
It has that, uh, classical theater look and feel. But the acoustics there just seem to be outstanding. I mean, there's no echo. It's great sound wherever you are in the facility. People sound so clear.

Rick Davis (14:49):
And if you're on stage in that theater and you, you're a singer, whatever player, you get just the right amount of sound coming back to you so you know that it's, you know that the hall is embracing you and that people just love playing there. And, and that, that means a lot because they play better.

President Washington (15:06):
Well, every, every single performance that I've seen there has been spectacular. It is, it's a gem.

Narrator (15:14):
To tackle a grand challenge, you might think you need a grand solution. But assistant professor of mechanical engineering Jeffrey Moran is proving that sometimes the answers are found in small, simple things like used coffee grounds.

President Washington (15:28):
Earlier this year, members of your lab made the news with the invention of what's being called the coffee bot. And this is spent coffee grounds coated in iron oxide that can absorb pollutants and water. So tell me about how it works.

Jeffrey Moran (15:48):
Sure. So the, the listeners can't see this, but I'm holding a vial of what are just ordinary coffee grounds, right? Mm-hmm <affirmative>. And these are coffee grounds I literally brought from home and

President Washington (15:59):
Now spent coffee grounds, which means--

Jeffrey Moran (16:01):
Spent coffee grounds

President Washington (16:02):
They've--

Jeffrey Moran (16:02):
Been used. That's correct.

President Washington (16:03):
That's even better.

Jeffrey Moran (16:04):
That's correct. Okay. Yeah. And by one estimate, we throw away about 23 million tons of spent coffee waste per year. Much of that is being sent to landfills. Although increasingly I'm heartened to see that places like Starbucks are making just bags of the stuff available for folks to use for compost. Okay. So I've got a vial of spent coffee grounds here, and in my other hand I have a magnet. Now if I hold the magnet up to the vial, nothing interesting happens. Coffee is not magnetic. However, if I have another vial here, these also look like spent coffee grounds. They are. But they've been coated in, as you said, iron oxide, which is the main chemical constituent of rust. So we sometimes call these rusty coffee grounds because in a real sense they are rusty. And if I hold the magnet up, I don't know if you can see, uh, and for the listeners, the coffee grounds, once they've been coated in the iron oxide particles, they will actually follow the magnet.

Jeffrey Moran (17:06):
So I can make them go wherever I want to by holding up a magnet to it. So the essence of what we did was develop a safe and eco-friendly approach to coating the coffee grounds with these little tiny bits of rust. So what does that do for us? Well, it does two important things. First, it allows us to use a magnetic fields--you asked how they move--it allows us to use a magnetic field to drive them through the water. So for now we're just propelling them with the external magnetic field. We can come back to that in a second. We're looking at ways to improve upon that. And one of the things we demonstrated was that moving coffee grounds will actually remove pollutants from water more efficiently than stationary ones do. Hmm. And this makes intuitive sense because in a sense, the moving coffee grounds encounter more pollutants per unit time than stationary ones do. So we demonstrated three different pollutant types. Methylene blue, which is kind of a stand in for a chemical pollutant. But methylene blue itself is a textile dye that has some negative health effects that is itself a pollutant of concern in some areas of the world, particularly where textile production is common. Oil spills and microplastics, those are additionally pollutants of concern.

President Washington (18:27):
So both of those are problematic today.

Jeffrey Moran (18:30):
Absolutely. Absolutely.

President Washington (18:31):
Oil spills and microplastics, so much so that fish today have an incredibly large amount of digested microplastics in their, in their, in their systems.

Jeffrey Moran (18:43):
And potentially we do too, potentially. And because there are so many consumer products that contain plastic, they make their ways into waterways, right? And eventually in some areas, uh, it probably varies significantly. I haven't seen the statistics, but definitely lots of different forms of life are consuming these microplastics. And I wanna say this is not my area, but I think we're still as a community figuring out exactly what the health effects are. But they're definitely something to be concerned about for sure. So we demonstrated that we can remove each of those three types.

President Washington (19:16):
So microplastics--

Jeffrey Moran (19:18):
Oil and methylene blue as a model for a do methylene blue is, is a textile dye. And it's blue as the name suggests. Right. And that was convenient because then it's very straightforward to monitor how much of the methylene blue we've removed at any given time. Because you can use an instrument that essentially looks at how much blue light is being absorbed. You can use essentially the intensity at a certain wavelength to determine how much of the dyes left. So it was, it was, it was partially out of convenience that we chose that.

President Washington (19:53):
Hmm. So reuse of these coffee grounds was mentioned.

Jeffrey Moran (19:59):
Yeah. Yeah.

President Washington (20:00):
So you, and so how often can you use them?

Jeffrey Moran (20:02):
Yeah. So that brings me to the second major thing that the magnetism enables. So just to recap, the first thing the magnetism does is it allows us to drive them through the water. And that speeds up the pollutant removal process. The second thing it does is it allows us to take the magnet and pluck the coffee grounds out of the water after the treatment is complete., What we do next is rinse it off. We can rinse the pollutants off and we do still have to dispose of the pollutants elsewhere. That is a separate issue that is for now, tangential to the work that we're doing. We're mainly focusing on removing them from the water. But that is something that you do still have to do something with the oil or with the microplastics. And that's something that other researchers are working on. So then after you rinse them, we typically rinse them with an organic solvent like acetone. Acetone works pretty well. And then you can actually drop them back into the water. And we showed in the journal paper we published on this that you can reuse them at least four times with a minimal reduction in pollutant removal efficiency. So we haven't gone beyond that. But based on how well the first five trials went, and this is true by the way, with each pollutant class, with dyes, oils, and microplastics, we have reason to believe that you could go further.

President Washington (21:20):
So let me get this straight. 'cause I want to make sure that the folk out there see the depth and the profoundness of what you are stating.

Jeffrey Moran (21:32):
Mm-hmm <affirmative>.

President Washington (21:34):
Spent coffee grounds coated in iron oxide can be dropped into, say, an oil spill.

Jeffrey Moran (21:42):
Mm-hmm <affirmative>. Absolutely.

President Washington (21:43):
And the coffee grounds will attach themselves to the oil.

Jeffrey Moran (21:46):
That's right.

President Washington (21:47):
You have a process for then pulling those grounds, separating those grounds with the oil on them from the water. The oil is rinsed off where it can be disposed. You throw the grounds back out to repeat the process. And you can do it up to four times.

Jeffrey Moran (22:04):
Five times total. Right. So four reuses...

President Washington (22:07):
Four reuses...

Jeffrey Moran (22:08):
So five total uses. That's amazing. You nailed it. That's exactly right.

Narrator (22:13):
From the smallest coffee grounds to the vast expanse of space, George �鶹��Ƶ faculty are stretching our imaginations of what lies within the cosmos. Anamaria Berea, an associate professor of computational and data sciences, studies the intersection of data sciences, economics, and astrobiology. And it's that last field that led President Washington to ask the question we've all wondered about at some poin: what are the chances of intelligent life beyond earth?

President Washington (22:41):
So let's start with your work at NASA. You were selected to participate in an independent study on UAPs or Unidentified Anomalous Phenomenon. Our listeners are probably more familiar with the term that I grew up with, which is UFOs, <laugh>: Unidentified Flying Objects. So can you explain the difference between these terms and what is the rationale behind the change in terminology?

Anamaria Berea (23:11):
Sure. So UFOs comes from Unidentified Flying Objects, which was the original term that the community and the public used for several decades after the 40s when we had allegedly the first observation of what more popular was called the flying saucer, right. But to get things more serious and into the scientific realm, scientists decided to change the name into unidentified anomalous phenomena, which is not necessarily about flying phenomena. Right? So this can be any type of unidentified phenomena, maybe coming from the sea or sub-sea. Most of them might have been observed in our atmosphere. So the rationale for the change in the name has been to basically cast this serious scientific lens to the phenomenon so that we can actually study it. The idea here is to actually emphasize the word unidentified, and the other word is phenomenon. Right. So, I'm a scientist at the course. So for us in, in science, whenever we see something that we cannot explain or understand, we want to cast the, um, scientific method and to try to understand this phenomenon. So it's science that draws that unidentified to identify it, right? So what we have in the middle, whether it's anomalous, whether it's flying, whether it's terrestrial, whether it's under the sea, that is a different story. So that speaks to where that observation has been made.

President Washington (24:52):
Understood, understood. So you are also affiliated with the SETI or S-E-T-I institute, commonly known as the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Can you tell us a little bit more about that institute and a little bit more about your work?

Anamaria Berea (25:13):
Yeah, sure. So I've been affiliated with the SETI Institute for a few years now, since before I was in, uh, the, uh, independent study panel with NASA because the institute is looking at all aspects of alien life. So we are not talking about little green man. What we are talking about is microbial life that can potentially be on other planets or moons within our solar system or outside of our solar system. And also potential intelligent life, which can also be potentially within our galaxy. So the SETI Institute actually has two different axis of study. One is with respect to biosignatures, as I was mentioning, microbial life, whether it's current or past on, uh, planets like Mars or on the moon, like, uh, Europa--in this October, we have Europa clipper that is going to launch to study that further--or Titan, right, which is the moon of, of Saturn, or, and the other axis is on technosignatures. So technosignatures mean finding signals or signs of technology anywhere in the universe, and particularly on exoplanets. So, so exoplanets being planets that orbit other suns than our own.

President Washington (26:33):
Right. Well, you mentioned Europa. What is Europa and why is it important?

Anamaria Berea (26:39):
Right. So Europa, it's what's called an icy moon. So that means that with some past missions that were just doing flybys, so flybys Jupiter and the moons of Jupiter, they observe that Europa is enveloped in an ice crust. But underneath this ice crust, there is a very vast ocean. And wherever you have water, there is a high probability of life. Now, the only way we can accurately determine whether there is life underneath the icy crust of Europa is by sending a probe, right. Sending a mission there to basically sample in two and analyze the composition of the ocean on, uh, Europa. So Europa is one of the high probability candidates when it comes to finding these biosignatures within our solar system. So Europa is one, Io is another one, which is another moon of Jupiter, and Titan is another one. And there will be another mission called Dragonfly that will launch probably late in the 2030s and look for signals of life on, um, Titan, which, uh, has, uh, oceans of methane.

President Washington (27:51):
Outstanding. So any plans or analyses or studies in the work, works to look at planets outside of our solar system.

Anamaria Berea (28:02):
Yes. So that is the main purpose of the James Webb telescope. So the James Webb telescope is sampling through spectrometry, the exoplanetary atmospheres on these exoplanets that orbit, uh, suns that are not our own sun. Right. Okay. And through the composition of these atmospheres, scientists try to determine whether some of those chemicals or combinations of chemicals can be produced by biological processes. Right. So you can infer from the composition of the atmosphere if there can be life on that planet. So going back to your question about my affiliation with the SETI Institute, it's actually then when my affiliation with the institute came about when I was part of this project with Frontier Development Lab, where we simulated the exoplanetary atmospheres based on metabolic networks. Okay. So finding metabolic networks on the, uh, surface of a planet. How will that processes, how will they change the composition of an, uh, atmosphere on that exoplanet? Right? And we create lots of simulations and try to understand what kind of combinations we can have at the micro scale on the surface of the planet in these metabolic networks. And the macro scale with respect to the planetary atmosphere.

President Washington (29:21):
Okay. So let me take that question to the next step. Give me an idea, give me your thoughts on intelligent life on other planets.

Anamaria Berea (29:31):
With respect the intelligent life and, and actually even the other life. Are we talking about simultaneous life that exists right now living versus past versus future?

President Washington (29:44):
I'm talking about right now.

Anamaria Berea (29:45):
Right now. Simultaneous with us

President Washington (29:47):
Right now.

Anamaria Berea (29:49):
So for that, I actually have a low probability for that. We have the Drake equation, uh, which actually is good heuristic or indicator for us in how we can calculate these probabilities. And with the Drake equation, while we might have lots of planets within, or exoplanets, within the habitable zone, uh, where life can develop and emerge, there is a, an entirely different question with respect to whether that life can evolve into intelligent life. That's one step. The next step with the, can that intelligent life evolve into a life that can create technology. Right. Because may, maybe they won't. Right, right. But just with respect to intelligent life, we actually don't know that because we only have a sample of one. Right.

President Washington (30:40):
I I know, I know. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. But, but let me throw out some numbers and you tell me where I'm off. Alright. We know that there is an estimated about a hundred billion galaxies.

Anamaria Berea (30:53):
That's right. Yeah. Okay. <affirmative>.

President Washington (30:54):
Each galaxy, each single galaxy has billions of stars, as does ours. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. And each of those stars has in many sense, lots of planets on those individual stars. Right. A hundred billion galaxies, billions of stars each with most likely multiple planets. And so if you use the Kepler data alone It estimates 300 million habitable

Anamaria Berea (31:29):
In habitable zones, yes.

President Washington (31:29):
With environments not too different from Earth.

Anamaria Berea (31:33):
That's right.

President Washington (31:34):
Yeah. 300 million. And out of those 300 million planets, your estimate is very low

Anamaria Berea (31:42):
For intelligent life.

President Washington (31:43):
For intelligent life.

Anamaria Berea (31:44):
Yeah. So my estimate is <laughs>

President Washington (31:44):
So help me, so help me to understand why that, 'cause the numbers tell me that by golly, there's gotta be intelligent life.

Anamaria Berea (31:52):
So, uh, your numbers are correct in saying that the probability for life is high in generic. But now

President Washington (32:01):
Again, I'm not talking about amoebas and protozoans, I'm talking about

Anamaria Berea (32:04):
�鶹��Ƶ humanlike. Right? Yes. Intelligence. Right. But again, evolutionary processes require, um, millions and millions of years. Right.

President Washington (32:16):
But we're, but we're a young galaxy.

Anamaria Berea (32:18):
The question, yes. But the question is more about are we early in the evolution of emergence of intelligent life versus are we late on that? Right. If we are talking about galaxy times. So the question is whether they're simultaneous with us, right. And at the same level or similar level of intelligence with us. So that is actually a lower probability.

President Washington (32:48):
<laugh>. Yeah, I hear you. We think we're smarter than what we are. I'm telling you right now, my estimate is that it is a high probability of intelligent life.

Narrator (33:01):
Last, but certainly not least, let's revisit an old fashioned crime story. Mary Ellen O'Toole is a professor and director of the Forensic Science Program. And as a former criminal profiler, she's helped capture, interview and understand some of the world's most infamous people, including Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer, and Ted Kozinski, the Unabomber.

President Washington (33:23):
Not often do we get to talk to someone who engaged the Green River Killer and the Unabomber. So how do you profile somebody and did you find anything interesting with these individuals?

Mary Ellen O'Toole (33:34):
When we profile somebody, it means that we study their behavior from a crime scene. So for example, in the Green River Killer, he killed for a long time before he was identified. He killed in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and the early 2000s. That's a lot of murders.

President Washington (33:53):
Yes.

Mary Ellen O'Toole (33:54):
That's a lot of murders. And it's a lot of time to fly under the radar screen. So that task force was looking for him for all of those years. And it became important to understand how did he get away with it? Because there were other cases where they get apprehended pretty quickly. Recently, there was a serial killer in LA who killed three people. Over the course of a couple days. He got arrested quite quickly, Green River, however, decades. And one of the reason that he did is because he lived a normal lifestyle. He was married, he had a child, he went to church, he had a regular job for some 30 years.

Mary Ellen O'Toole (34:27):
So people thought when he was arrested, they were, it couldn't be this guy 'cause he's my neighbor and he's very normal. But what we do, we looked at all of Gary Ridgway, who's the Green River Killer, we looked at all of his murders and he left his victims outside at outdoor crime scenes. And in fact, some of the remains of the victims were not found for decades because he was very efficient at being able to hide the bodies or dump the bodies in a way that prevented them from being found. And of course, over the sixties, seventies, eighties, and nineties, we simply did not have the technology from a forensic perspective to be able to do a lot with those crime scenes. Now, times have changed and we can do a lot more. But when I first met him--I became part of the task force out in Seattle--when I first met Gary Ridgway, I was really surprised by how normal and engaging that he was. And to look at him, there is no way that you would know what he did. I mean, you'd sit next to him on Metro and you would never know that he was the most prolific serial sexual killer in US history.

President Washington (35:37):
But somehow you profiled him. So you knew. If you sat by him on that train, would you know, could you have said something to him or asked him a question that would say to you, okay, I'm starting to get some eerie feelings from this guy.

Mary Ellen O'Toole (35:52):
What I'm gonna tell you may not click for a lot of people, but the one thing that is present in most of the serial sexual killers, and I say that specifically because a serial sexual killer, that's their motivation for murder. It's for sexual purposes. They meet the criteria of the psychopathic personality disorder. The old term is sociopath, the new term is psychopath. And part of the psychopathic structure is that these individuals have the ability to show you what we call snake eyes, which means their eyes are very normal a lot of the time, but when you're interviewing them or they're angry at you during an interview, or they don't like something that you've said, their eyes transform into what we call snake eyes. Their eyes lose their color, they go at half mask. And when you see it, it makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

Mary Ellen O'Toole (36:45):
And if I saw someone in public, and I have a couple times, that makes it transformation to snake eyes, then I know stay away. And I saw that with Gary Ridgway a lot. If I said something to him that he didn't like, he would lose the eye color from his eyes and his eyes would become coal black and they would be at half mask. And I know those were the eyes that his victims saw right before they murdered him. And we know it's a neurological issue. We don't have a lot of information on why. We just know that it's present in psychopathic individuals.

President Washington (37:18):
So do you help train students now to profile?

Mary Ellen O'Toole (37:24):
Actually, I do. And we're starting some pretty neat new initiatives that will allow us to do even more of that. Because I do have a group of students that want to go take their expertise more into the behavioral area and they see the value of it. So I have a class right now, where students are learning how to study crime scenes from a behavioral perspective and then analyze the behavior. And then from that behavior, what they do is they explain who's the offender, what kind of an offender would've committed a crime like this. And in fact, in the small semester this time, I gave them three cases to analyze. And one of them was D.B. Cooper: never solved, jumped out of an airplane with $200,000. We never found him.

President Washington (38:11):
They're still looking for him. Right. This is the

Mary Ellen O'Toole (38:13):
Still looking for him. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. Never found him. So some of the students get that case. Another group, they get the Marilyn Monroe case. Marilyn Monroe was determined to have died as a result of suicide. Not so sure about that. And then the third case that my students work on just for their midterms is the Black Dahlia case. And Black Dahlia is a unsolved case out of Los Angeles where this beautiful young woman that had moved to LA to become a movie star. And she ended up meeting up with the wrong person who kidnapped her and kept her for a number of days, and then placed her dismembered body in a neighborhood in Los Angeles, and she's referred to as the Black Dahlia. So my students study those cases for the first half of the year, and they look at the behavior and from the behavior they draw behavioral traits of the offender and what the offender is like, what kind of a job the offender has, what kind of relationship the offenders have with other people. So they learn how to take the behavior and extrapolate that into who the offender is.

President Washington (39:15):
What type of student goes into forensic science?

Mary Ellen O'Toole (39:18):
I think there is a type, and I've thought about this for a long time, students who are very curious, very empathic, very motivated students that have a lot of internal fortitude because they know they're gonna go out there, for example, at least a lot of them to the body farm. And they're gonna see some things that are pretty upsetting with the decomposition of a human donor. So these are students that have really thought this through very well, and students that are critical thinkers. That's the course I teach here is critical thinking. You're not born with it. It's not a gift. You need to develop it. I am amazed by how quickly students learn to be very adept critical thinkers in a way that allows them to cut through complex cases, tear them apart, and look at sections, put the sections back together, and then make analysis about who the offender is.

Mary Ellen O'Toole (40:20):
So I see that in so many of my students, and they don't jump to conclusions. And they understand that opinions are just that. They're just opinions. They're not the result of critical thinking. So I'm impressed by how well my students bring those traits together and apply it into these cases. So it's really an eclectic combination of traits that students really develop, knowing that all of that is gonna be necessary if they want to be really well-rounded in the job. And I love the term audacity because being audacious is not the same as being arrogant. Being audacious is to stand up and say, we've got thousands of unidentified remains in medical examiner's offices throughout the United States. What can we do to reunite those individuals with their family members? We know that we've got unsolved cases out there of marginalized victims throughout the United States. Audacious means what can we do to solve those crimes? And so if my students can be as audacious as is humanly possible, they're gonna be magnificent forensic scientists.

Narrator (41:37):
This is only a preview of the incredible talent and innovation here at �鶹��Ƶ. There's so much more to explore and we hope you stick around to see more ways that George �鶹��Ƶ is hard at work, developing bold solutions to the grand challenges of our time. On behalf of President Gregory Washington, thanks for listening. And tune in next time for more conversations that show why we are all together different.

Outro (42:03):
If you like what you heard on this podcast, go to podcast.gmu.edu for more of Gregory Washington's conversations with the thought leaders, experts, and educators who take on the grand challenges facing our students graduates in higher education. That's podcast.gmu.edu.

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George �鶹��Ƶ student uses his passion for filmmaking to give back

ckearney — Wed, 07 May 2025 19:43:49 +0000

George �鶹��Ƶ student uses his passion for filmmaking to give back ckearney Wed, 05/07/2025 - 15:43

�鶹��Ƶ Film and Video Studies student James Bah will graduate with a pretty impressive resumé.

James Bah (center right) directing his senior film, The Lick. Photo provided

At the 2024 Best of Film at George �鶹��Ƶ showcase, he screened his music video, The Show, which he directed for rapper Bobby Feeno, also known as former NFL running back Arian Foster. Bah, who was a content creator and uploading his own videos, met Foster when they were both streaming on the platform Twitch, and made a cameo appearance in the video.

“He reacted to one of my videos and we eventually got acquainted. I started editing content for him when I was still in high school,” said Bah, who is from Washington, D.C.

Bah traveled to Houston to direct the music video. “It was a fantastic experience and it still feels surreal that it happened. It was also my first time participating in Best of Film and a lot of people seemed to really enjoy it.”

The music video was also featured at the Washington West Film Festival in October.

The College of Visual and Performing Arts senior started off with an editing concentration before transitioning to a directing focus. “As a kid I didn't have cable, so I would watch highlights on YouTube and then I started to recreate those highlights and really got into editing,” said Bah.

After attending predominantly Black schools growing up, Bah wanted to connect with other Black filmmakers, “so I founded the Black Filmmakers Association (BFMA), whose mission is to bring together Black storytellers on campus,” said Bah.

James Bah (left) directing a film project. Photo provided

“A lot of the times you’ll see the same producers, directors, and cinematographers working on multiple projects together. The experience of being on set, that networking and collaborative culture, is essential in the film industry. BFMA provides us with those kinds of opportunities to get more projects on our reels,” said Bah, who is the president of the organization.

In addition to the Best of Film showcase, Bah has participated in numerous George �鶹��Ƶ film events, either featuring his own work or supporting the work of his peers and professors.

In 2024, Bah was the moderator for Professor Nikyatu Jusu’s film Nanny at George �鶹��Ƶ’s Visiting Filmmakers Series. “I was nervous at first, but I’d watched the film multiple times and we have a good relationship, so after a while it just turned into a conversation and was smooth sailing from there,” said Bah.

“Professor Jusu has been such an instrumental figure into my development and into my craft. I joke all the time that she’s my ‘auntie’ because we're both Sierra Leonian,” said Bah, who took FAVS 475 Advanced Fiction Directing with Jusu.

Bah said his early academic advisor Lori Yi and current BFMA faculty advisor Leonard Collins were also really impactful in supporting him throughout his academic journey.

“James is a really passionate filmmaker. I’ve enjoyed so many of his projects, but my favorite is his senior thesis project, The Lick, about the challenges of growing up in Southeast D.C. Even with just the first draft, I was in awe. He has a gift and he has something special with this film,” said Leonard Collins, BA Film and Video Studies ’20, a FAVS adjunct professor and teaching assistant.

“I see James giving back to the students of George �鶹��Ƶ and his community as an award-winning director, producer someday,” said Collins.

Bah has already been on a professional set as a location assistant on the Academy Award-nominated Netflix film Rustin. He learned about the opportunity while working at the nonprofit Life Pieces to Masterpieces as a videographer and mentor to grade school students.

“Location assistants are next to production assistants where they're essentially handymen doing what’s needed in order to keep everything on set moving. I spent a couple of weeks working 14-to-16-hour days on set. It was a lot of work, but I loved the experience. I was grateful for the opportunity and I had a blast,” said Bah.

In addition to working at Life Pieces to Masterpieces, Bah also worked at George �鶹��Ƶ’s Student Technology Assistance and Resource Lab, and did digital storytelling work for Project Create and CityWorks D.C.

“After graduation, I hope to be working with an organization where I can use my creative ambition to give back to community and help others by any means,” said Bah.

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Graduate student uses the healing power of art to help other veterans

Katarina Benson — Mon, 28 Apr 2025 15:59:31 +0000

Graduate student uses the healing power of art to help other veterans Katarina Benson Mon, 04/28/2025 - 11:59

Death has been the constant companion in Steven Luu’s life—from war-torn Vietnam to the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. But through art, Luu, now a master of fine arts (MFA) student at �鶹��Ƶ’s School of Art, within the College of Visual and Performing Arts, has discovered peace, purpose, and a path to healing.

“All of my artwork is about revisiting,” said Luu. “Art is not to forget, but to express.”

Luu wasn’t yet born when his unlikely odyssey began 50 years ago this month, following the fall of Saigon to the North Vietnamese Army in April 1975. Nearly a year later, he came into the world as his family’s life was upended by war and political upheaval. His father, a South Vietnamese government official, along with his grandfather and uncle, were lost in the war, and the family home was confiscated. When Luu was just a year old, he and his family were sent to a re-education camp, where they endured harsh poverty and uncertainty.

When he was 7, Luu and his family managed to escape Vietnam by sea, in search of freedom in a small boat packed with refugees. Their harrowing journey lasted more than two months; by the time of their rescue by the British Royal Navy, nearly half of the passengers perished from starvation. Luu was just shy of his 8th birthday when he was forced to help push lifeless bodies overboard—a memory that has haunted him since.

After years of adversity in trying conditions in refugee camps in Hong Kong, Luu and his family made their way to the United States in 1991. Following his high school graduation in 1995, he enlisted with the U.S. Air Force and became a medic, driven by a desire to save lives after witnessing so much suffering, and determined to do everything he could to prevent others from enduring the same fate. His 20-year career in the U.S. military included deployments to the Balkans, Iraq, and Afghanistan, often alongside special operations units.

Luu with one of his works. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

“I have seen the worst part of humanity,” said Luu, who will turn 48 later this year. “And it stays with you.”

In 2012, while serving in Afghanistan, Luu was severely wounded. His lengthy convalescence at Walter Reed Medical Center, then located in Washington, D.C., marked a turning point. There, a hospital official introduced him to the healing power of art by providing him a canvas and drawing utensils.

“In that moment, I saw art as a way to let something inside me out, without having to say it,” said Luu, who while working on his degree also serves as documentarian for �鶹��Ƶ Exhibitions.

He found making art incredibly therapeutic. Sculpture, especially using raw and rigid materials like concrete and epoxy resin, has become a personal healing ritual.

Although he had no formal art background, Luu knew he had found his voice. After earning a BA in theology from Catholic Distance University in 2010, he applied to George �鶹��Ƶ’s School of Art, earning his BFA in sculpture in 2022. He recognized that art was more than a way to help himself, it also allowed him reach other veterans grappling with the same guilt and isolation he felt after leaving the military. He’s on track to complete his MFA in 2026.

All of his sculptures are made with recycled materials. “Like me, these materials have been given a second chance at life,” Luu said.

Artist Peter Winant was the director of George �鶹��Ƶ’s School of Art when he first saw Luu’s early drawings in 2017.

“There was something really deep in them,” Winant said. “Some form of truth that few of us could approach.”

That truth now fuels Luu’s mission to help other veterans navigate their own trauma—a mission he pursues with deep purpose and gratitude for the opportunity. He creates art with a focus on mental health and uses his story to encourage others to find their own form of expression.

In 2024, the U.S. Air Force invited Luu to work with Wounded Warriors, teaching recovering airmen about the healing power of art, and how to channel their experiences into creative expression. He’ll do the same this November, during a weeklong George �鶹��Ƶ conference for 400 recovering veterans spanning all military branches. The week will conclude with a public art exhibit featuring the veterans’ creations.

His solo exhibition Steven Luu: A Path to Healing & Transformation is on display through May at the National Veterans Art Museum in Chicago. It is a powerful testament to one man’s journey through unimaginable pain and his unwavering pursuit of peace.

“Art is the one universal language—it’s always been the language of humanity,” said Luu. “I cannot physically fix what happened in the past, but at least I have closure. Like life as a whole, you adapt in art to survive.”

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Podcast: Building community and conversation through the arts

blongcha — Mon, 21 Apr 2025 22:48:13 +0000

Podcast: Building community and conversation through the arts blongcha Mon, 04/21/2025 - 18:48

George �鶹��Ƶ has a long history of supporting the arts on campus and in the community. With seven academic programs, seven galleries, six community arts programs, two major venues, and the digital venue �鶹��Ƶ Arts Amplified, �鶹��Ƶ Arts continues to create a thriving artistic community right here in Northern Virginia.

On this episode of Access to Excellence, President Gregory Washington is joined by Rick Davis, dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at George �鶹��Ƶ and the executive director of the Hylton Performing Arts Center. An accomplished director, author, professor, and George �鶹��Ƶ baseball cap collector, Davis and President Washington discuss the history of the arts at George �鶹��Ƶ and the critical role the arts play in creating and maintaining community.

In a good arts course, you learn that iterative process. You learn that critical thinking process. You learn about sort of testing hypotheses, but those hypotheses might be language or music or images. And what does this image say to you? And, and how can you make it better? How can you understand it differently? And that circular thought process really is the essence of artistic creation, which is why I think students, once they experience it, they love it. — Rick Davis

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Intro (00:04):
Trailblazers in research, innovators in technology, and those who simply have a good story; all make up the fabric that is �鶹��Ƶ. We're taking on the grand challenges that face our students, graduates; and higher education is our mission and our passion. Hosted by �鶹��Ƶ President Gregory Washington, this is the Access to Excellence podcast.

President Gregory Washington (00:27):
It was famed sculpture, Henry Moore who said, "to be an artist is to believe in life." My guest today embodies a passion for the arts that echoes this sentiment. Rick Davis is the Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at George �鶹��Ƶ and the executive director of the Hilton Performing Arts Center. He has directed numerous theatrical and operatic productions across the United States, authored four books, co-written an opera and an oratorio, and has become really famous around campus for his signature George �鶹��Ƶ baseball cap.

Rick Davis (01:07):
<laugh>.

President Gregory Washington (01:08):
Rick, welcome to the show.

Rick Davis (01:10):
Thank you so much, Mr. President. And, and just for your listeners benefit, um, I'm wearing the cap right now, so you just have to imagine a, a yellow hat here on the podcast.

President Gregory Washington (01:18):
Outstanding. Outstanding. So you're one of the people who have a continuity here. Your continuity at George �鶹��Ƶ is amazing, right? Came here in 1991.

Rick Davis (01:31):
Yep.

President Gregory Washington (01:31):
Right, when you started as an artistic director of Theater of the First Amendment.

Rick Davis (01:37):
Yep.

President Gregory Washington (01:37):
And a member of the theater faculty. So it's kind of like a three part question. What brought you to George �鶹��Ƶ? What was George �鶹��Ƶ like? And what has kept you here for 35 years?

Rick Davis (01:52):
Well, what brought me here, let's take 'em in order. What brought me here was Theater of the First Amendment. It was a brand new experiment, uh, in founded in 1990. Um, when the Institute of the Arts was founded here, the the year that I like to call the Big Bang at �鶹��Ƶ for the arts, because we opened the Center for the Arts in October of 1990. The institute was founded, you know, in August, basically to, to create a new way of teaching the arts at George �鶹��Ƶ. And part of that was, uh, creating a professional theater: professional, meaning paid actors and, and designers, members of actors', equity, you know, the actors' union, and, and then incorporating students throughout the productions as as appropriate. So a student might be cast in a role, uh, but they would have to compete for that role. But we had some of the best actors and designers in the whole DC metro area, which is a great theater town, uh, coming to campus three, four times a year, and staging professional productions right in the middle of this brand new theater program.

Rick Davis (02:50):
And I thought, I was very happily engaged up in Baltimore at Center Stage. I had not heard of �鶹��Ƶ at this time. When I saw this opportunity, I said, here's a chance that, where I can practice everything I love. I love directing, I love education. I love the theater world. I love the liberal arts. And, and I, I, this was a chance to try to be a professional theater artist in a liberal arts environment. Wow, you know, what's this about? So I came down, did the interview, got the job, and it was really amazing what was going on here at the time. The place was, I think, maybe 17,000 students. I think I remember that number correctly, approximately that in, in '91 it was a commuter school, you know? Absolutely. The weekends were dead as door nails <laugh> around here. But the Center for the Arts and the Theater of the First Amendment, TFA for short, we were trying to change that, trying to give people a reason to stay on campus. We did primarily new work, new plays. We commissioned a lot of plays. We did plays on all subjects, even though we were called theater, the First Amendment, which made some people think we were doing like constitutional dramas and everything. Well, we actually <laugh>

President Gregory Washington (03:54):
That is exactly what I thought I'm thinking. Did you come out in your, you know, three pointed hat? You know, and...

Rick Davis (04:01):
To, to be fair, we, we did a couple of, of dramas on that theme. Uh, not necessarily the tricorns, but we did a play about Oliver Wendell Holmes, uh, which is actually beautiful plank called The Wonderful One-Hoss-Shay uh, by Paul D'Andre, uh, who's a, by the way, an Emeritus Robinson professor in at George �鶹��Ƶ. Um, and it was really the founding guy, the guy who thought up the idea of, of the Theater of the First Amendment. And by the way, on the name Dr. D'Andrea, Paul, named it because George �鶹��Ƶ was the author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which led to the Bill of Rights, of which of course, the First Amendment is the one that is the most celebrated and arguably the most essential. And so it was like an honoring sort of, in a not quite direct way, but a, I think, a meaningful way that the, uh, idea of, of George �鶹��Ƶ, the man.

Rick Davis (04:48):
Anyway, the theater had great success for probably, well, we, we lasted 22 years, uh, but it was quite successful. And we won a lot of Helen Hayes Awards. We got a lot of great press. We originated plays that went on to many other productions at other professional theaters around the country. Uh, we had cast albums. We produced a video, uh, that went on to PBS, actually called Nathan the Wise. And then in 2010, '11, '12, we began to realize two things. One, that the theater department, which was by then called the School of Theater, had probably quintupled in size since the days when we all started in the early nineties, from about 30 majors to about 120 or 150. And there wasn't room on our stages anymore for three or four fully staged professional productions if we were gonna serve our students properly. So space, time, and frankly, budget all made us keep, we sort of shrunk the season, you know, from four plays to three plays to two plays to the occasional play <laugh>.

Rick Davis (05:50):
And then we said, you know what? This, let's just wind this down, you know, because it did its job. It, it created a great school of theater. It produced a lot of work that went on into the world and is still being performed. And we all had to sort of get on with the business of now running a college of visual and performing arts that was growing incredibly fast. So that's kind of the, the short story of that arc. I tell you what, I, I have had multiple, and I'm not exaggerating multiple people who remember, or just multiple people who see, uh, you know, some sort of record of it. Hey, wouldn't this be a good idea to, to bring this back? And I say, yes, yes, it would. And it, and you know what? It wouldn't have to come, let's make policy on the air here. It, it wouldn't have to come back as a fully, you know, whole season of, you know, four plays. It could come back as the occasional instance.

President Gregory Washington (06:35):
The occasional one-off.

Rick Davis (06:37):
Yep. All right. Let's do it.

President Gregory Washington (06:38):
<laugh>. There it is. There it is. Amazing. Amazing.

Rick Davis (06:42):
I like this meeting. This is a good meeting. Let's, let's keep, let's keep this going,

President Gregory Washington (06:45):
<laugh>. Let's keep going. <laugh>. So last year, uh, you gave a presentation to the Board of Visitors, and you began that presentation with your mantra, the arts, create community. Talk to us about the tagline, what inspired it and what does it actually mean?

Rick Davis (07:05):
Oh, thank you. I call it my forward elevator speech because it encapsulates basically everything I believe about the value of the arts. And I'm going back historically, you know, to, to ancient civilizations that that created, you know, theater and dance and music and, and cave paintings and, and sculptures and everything that, that the way the arts have always expressed themselves. Why were they born and why do they exist? Because people need occasions to come together. And for a lot of people, religion forms that function and the religion in the arts have a, a strong connection, sometimes very tense connection, but, but a very strong connection in terms of ritual and in terms of, of symbolism. For some people, sports frankly, create that opportunity for me as well. Uh, I know for you, you know, we love to go to a, a sporting event because it's a ritual, right?

Rick Davis (07:55):
It's a, it's a collective experience. We all see the same thing and react, maybe not in the same way, but if everybody reacts right, you can be booing and cheering, uh, at the same play depending on your team. But you're reacting and you're reacting as part of a community. Same thing happens in a, in a play or an opera. The same thing happens quietly in an art museum, because people are walking by a, a painting or, or standing in, in front of a sculpture, and it catches them and it stops them. It interrupts their day a little bit. And great paintings, one person stops and then another person stops, and then another person stops. And suddenly you get a little audience <laugh> right in front. And it's amazing what happens there, because everybody's concentrating on the same thing for a little while. You know, in the case of a play, it might be two hours or three hours, or God knows, four hours, uh, <laugh>.

Rick Davis (08:41):
But the value of bringing people together in, in common contemplation, or having a common experience, I think is really vital to civilization. And I'm not being hyperbolic here. I think civilization requires opportunities for people to come together and witness things collectively, and then form their own conclusions. But when you go to a play that's working, whether it's a comedy or a tragedy, or anything in between, and you feel that unanimity or that variety, but also people breathing together, laughing together, crying together, you are part of a temporary community that actually reminds us all of our common humanity. And if I might, I'll, I'll give a quick example from Theater of the First Amendment's days of how this worked in a, in a time of crisis. Um, and I'm talking about, I'm talking about late September, 2001. At that time, we had on the stage, quite accidentally this production called "Nathan the Wise", adapted by Paul D'Andrea.

Rick Davis (09:37):
He adapted it from a German play written in the 18th century by Gotthold Lessing, who had written this play called "Nathan the Wise" to set in Jerusalem in the time of the Third Crusade, where the, the Muslim ruler Saladin was the leader of Jerusalem, where the Christian forces, the Knight's Templar and, and the Crusaders were knocking at the gates of Jerusalem. And there was a Christian patriarch tending to the religious life of the Christians in Jerusalem. You had Saladin ruling, you had Nathan the Wise, who was a Jewish merchant. Uh, and we brought together Christianity, Islam, and Judaism in one city at a time of enormous crisis, and showed through the action of the play how the three Abrahamic religions can actually converse with each other and can actually reach common understanding. And we were doing that play just 'cause we thought it was a cool theme, right?

Rick Davis (10:32):
And it was an 18th century idea that was still resonating. Well, September 11th happened, and we were gonna open September 28th, I think. And, you know, we actually had a conversation, can, should we do this? Can we do this? And unanimously we said, yes, we must do this. So we put the play on, and it caught fire. Quite literally. It, people came over and over to see it, especially members of our local Islamic community. The Egyptian ambassador came several times. Uh, he said to us later, and I quote directly, "this play is a bridge to the point of rescue for our people." Because it affirmed the value of religious acceptance and religious tolerance. Not religious identity, not religious collapse into one viewpoint, but the idea that all these great religious traditions have a place, and there's no way to tell which is the, the true one or the best one. And to think that that idea came from a German playwright writing in the 1780s, and had been adapted by an American playwright in 2001, and was being produced in Fairfax, Virginia. And then that's where the PBS video came from. This play was taped, and those tapes are in every public library in Egypt. I mean, it's just, it just had an amazing worldwide impact. And that's creating community on a, on a big scale, because it gave...

President Gregory Washington (11:57):
Oh, without question.

Rick Davis (11:58):
You know, it gave people something to, to help them understand the moment.

President Gregory Washington (12:02):
No, without question. And when you're bringing this up, I'm like, wow. A, that's amazing. B, it made me think how timeless the general issue was.

Rick Davis (12:13):
Yeah.

President Gregory Washington (12:13):
But then I started to ask some questions. It seems to me that there would be some modification to deal with that, the issue that was at hand at the time. Right. You know, you, you had 9/11 hit. You had this play that was literally put together before 9/11.

Rick Davis (12:32):
Yep.

President Gregory Washington (12:33):
Right?

Rick Davis (12:33):
Yep.

President Gregory Washington (12:34):
Not with 9/11 in mind.

Rick Davis (12:36):
Correct.

President Gregory Washington (12:37):
9/11 comes, do you modify it to take into account some of the aspects of what was literally playing out in front of our eyes? Did you all do that?

Rick Davis (12:50):
We didn't have to change a word.

President Gregory Washington (12:51):
Amazing. Amazing.

Rick Davis (12:52):
Partly because Paul D'Andrea, the, the playwright translator adapter had already adapted the play with a 20th century 21st, early 21st century lens. It was still very much Lessing play. But Paul had already given it a contemporary still set in, in ancient Jerusalem. I mean, it was a period, you know, setting and costumes and everything. But the, but the story was already, you know, adapted to a certain extent. The one thing we did immediately was start looking for ways of creating how to process this. So, you know, a lot of post-play discussions, we had seminars, we had panels, and then after the run of the play that continued in all kinds of settings in, in Islamic centers, in interfaith centers, uh, in, in community centers around the Northern Virginia region, there were several, if not many encounters that people asked us to help facilitate. So the conversation continued well after the play closed.

President Gregory Washington (13:47):
That's amazing. Well, you can't talk about community without talking about the two pillars of bringing folk together in that community. And so I want to talk about 'em separately here, but what makes the Center for the Arts a critical part of the arts community for both George �鶹��Ƶ and for the region?

Rick Davis (14:07):
So the Center for the Arts in Fairfax is of course, our signature facility here on the, on the Fairfax Campus, where we do the vast majority of our, of our instruction. The Center for the Arts was created out of the mind of President George Johnson, quite literally, uh, and his wife, Joanne, to say, let, let's put George �鶹��Ƶ on the map as a place where the arts are happening, and how are we gonna do that? 'cause we don't really have big arts programs yet. So we have to bring in, we have to bring the world to Fairfax. We have to bring Yo-Yo Ma to Fairfax. We have to bring Michael Feinstein to Fairfax. We have to bring these incredible artists. We, uh, you know, Roberta Peters, Denyce Graves: great top level artists, right, who came to and are still coming every year to Fairfax. And that was something that changed the campus culture.

Rick Davis (14:53):
If you talk to visitor Horace Blackman, former rector of our board, who was a student here during the opening, he, he started in the late eighties, graduated in the early nineties. So he intersected with the opening of the Center for the Arts. He will tell you, he's told me that the opening of the Center for the Arts changed George �鶹��Ƶ completely, because all of a sudden the world was coming to �鶹��Ƶ. You had a place to go on the weekends. You had meaningful things to do. You had the opportunity to be part of the world conversation about music and dance theater. And that gave everybody, not only on campus, but in the whole sort of Northern Virginia region, a rallying point. It literally created a community. And from that, we have built the academic programs because the presence of all these wonderful artists that come in over the course of a season has also benefited our students tremendously through master classes, through, frankly, through faculty recruitment, <laugh>. We've, we've recruited a bunch of faculty sort of off the road, uh, when they're, when they're ready to leave their touring performing career.

President Gregory Washington (15:59):
That's cool. So they come here, perform, then you recruit 'em later to be faculty here.

Rick Davis (16:04):
Yep. Our, our whole School of Dance practically answers that description, uh, and it, and it's just, just amazing.

President Gregory Washington (16:09):
That's really, really cool.

Rick Davis (16:10):
Yeah.

President Gregory Washington (16:11):
That is fabulous.

Rick Davis (16:13):
And it's still happening. So that, that center has, is still doing the work. And, you know, of course, it's, it's showing its age. You know, it, it was open in 1990 and it's, it's been lovingly taken care of, but it hasn't been updated. So we have a, a major campaign ongoing. We're calling it Give Voice. We want, we wanna give voice to the Center for the Arts and make it a modern, technologically rich and more student-friendly facility. Because when it opened, we didn't have the students to fill it, but now we do. So we're hard on that job right now.

President Gregory Washington (16:42):
Look, the reality is it does need a facelift, an update, so to speak. And we're gonna work with you to make that one happen. It is time.

Rick Davis (16:53):
It is time. Yep. <laugh>

President Gregory Washington (16:55):
It, it was time 10, 15 years ago.

Rick Davis (16:58):
<laugh> That's right. That's right.

President Gregory Washington (16:59):
So, talk to us a little bit about the other core facility we have for bringing the community together to Hylton Performing Arts Center, and that's on our Science and Technology campus in Manassas.

Rick Davis (17:13):
Oh, I'd love to. Um, you know, the, I had the pleasure. You mentioned it in the intro. I had the still have the pleasure actually of, of having the title of executive director of the Hylton. And, and that was my only job here for a few years, <laugh> between 2011 and, and 2015 when I, when I became dean. Uh, so I have a deep, deep connection to that facility. Um, we built the Hylton Center, and by the way, for everybody listening on the podcast, that's H-Y-L-T-O-N, right? <laugh>. It's, it's not the, not the hotel chain, it's the Hylton Foundation and a man named Conrad Hylton, uh, who is a major developer in, in the Prince William County area. Uh, they gave the naming gift for that back in the mid two thousands. The facility opened in 2010, and we built that essentially as an expression of George �鶹��Ƶ's commitment to community partnerships, because Prince William County and the City of Manassas essentially asked us if we would partner with them to create a distinctive, representative, inspiring cultural facility that would help their city and county, and that region, take the next step into the community that they wanted to become.

Rick Davis (18:19):
So we, we bill ourselves, I, this is a term I use a lot. We bill ourselves as a symbol of change and as an agent of change, we're doing both of those things in...at SciTech. This is one of the most beautiful theaters anywhere on the East Coast. The architecture is distinctive from the moment you walk into the lobby. Every space is designed with architectural distinction in mind. The acoustics in the main hall are praised by every single artist who comes in, whether they're a classical conductor or a pianist, or a jazz player, or a bluegrass musician. Everybody loves playing in that hall. And perhaps most importantly, it has uplifted the local and regional arts community to a very high degree, the Manassas Ballet, the Manassas Chorale, the Manassas Symphony, Prince William Little Theater, a youth orchestra that's going by the name of the Onyx Project now...CPAC, the Creative and Performing Arts Center from, from Woodbridge, these entities, which all pre-existed the Hylton, but were doing their work in middle school, auditoriums and, you know, church basements and everything. Now they have truly a world class facility to play in. And over these 15 years that we've been operating, their work has gotten bigger and better and more popular, and they've attracted more people in the audience. But just as importantly for them, they've attracted more people on stage, more people to participate in these community-based artistic expressions. So it's been a, it's been a huge success for the community and for George �鶹��Ƶ as well, because people see us as the purveyor and the partner that without us, this, this thing wouldn't have happened.

President Gregory Washington (19:53):
And I'll, and I'll be honest with you, this, the acoustics, the layout: first of all, it looks like a classical theater.

Rick Davis (20:01):
Yeah.

President Gregory Washington (20:02):
It has that, uh, classical theater look and feel. But the acoustics there just seem to be outstanding. I mean, there's no echo. It's great sound wherever you are in the facility.

Rick Davis (20:15):
Yeah.

President Gregory Washington (20:16):
People sound so clear.

Rick Davis (20:18):
And if you're on stage in that theater and you, you're a singer, whatever player, you get just the right amount of sound coming back to you so you know that it's, you know that the hall is embracing you and that people just love playing there. And, and that, that means a lot because they play better.

President Gregory Washington (20:34):
Well, every, every single performance that I've seen there has been spectacular. It is, it's a gem, right? It's,wWe're trying to make it less of a hidden gem.

Rick Davis (20:45):
Right. Well, we're, we're building around it. Right.

President Gregory Washington (20:47):
It is definitely a gem.

Rick Davis (20:49):
Yeah. That, and that's the other thing. I mean, I want to give an a shout out to my predecessor, founding Dean of CVPA Bill Reeder, who really had an incredible amount of vision and amount of energy focused on the Hylton Center during his time. He really did a lot of the groundbreaking fundraising and "friend"-raising that allowed that to happen. And it was his vision to have that shape, that sort of Italian opera house shape, because he was an opera singer, <laugh>. And, and I, he sort of knew that, that that sort of classical horseshoe, you know, balcony shape would be effective. And the great thing about that was we didn't build a 3000 seat theater. We built a 1200 seat theater, so that it is a friendly theater, right? You don't have to go in there and scream your lungs out. You can, you can go in there and, and if you're an actor, you can have a, just a, a good performance with your normal voice. If you're a singer, you don't have to work so hard. If you're a violinist, you don't have to be scraping away. You, you can make your beautiful tone. And a lot of that comes from Bill's musical background and his, his understanding that the community needed a place where they would shine.

President Gregory Washington (21:54):
This is both an amazing history of the two facilities and really, really great feedback in terms of how they use and how they engage the respective community. Do you have a feeling that they serve different communities or do they serve the same community?

Rick Davis (22:13):
Yeah, increasingly that's the case. That was not the case when we opened the Hylton. They really had two separate audiences. Uh, but we have found over the years that there's, now there's a lot more people who are subscribing to both venues. Uh, a lot more of our student work is finding a home at the Hylton, which we love because the students look great there. And the, the community out there really embraces our students when they come out, uh, primarily music and theater, but some dance as well. So there's a greater, greater overlap. And I think that fits the whole idea that the leaders of Manassas and Prince William had back in...the idea, actually started in the 1990s, um, for this thing to happen. It just took 20 years to realize <laugh>. Uh, but they really saw that Manassas and Prince William County were becoming part of a metro area. And the, the divisions were being slowly but surely erased between, you know, the, the close-in suburbs and the, and the outer suburbs, and the exurbs and the rural area. There's a, that sort of westward flow that is really making those communities more, uh, accessible to one another. And I celebrate that. I think that's really, really cool.

President Gregory Washington (23:20):
So you also speak about how artists abhor deficits and that their work serves to fill the holes they see in the world.

Rick Davis (23:31):
Yeah.

President Gregory Washington (23:31):
Talk to us about what you mean by deficit.

Rick Davis (23:34):
Yeah. Well, <laugh>, thank you for that question. Uh, it's one of my favorite metaphors, um, and I use it because I'm being a little tricky, actually. Um, when a lot of of people think about artists, they think about deficits being like, you're not making enough money. <laugh>. Right. Because.

President Gregory Washington (23:51):
That's what I originally thought when I saw it. <laugh>.

Rick Davis (23:54):
Yeah. Because it, you know, it's a hard business, uh, whether it's institutional or, or personal. But what I mean by that is every work of art at any level is made because of something. It, it's never random. There, there's, there's a, uh, a myth. I think that sometimes creativity just happens because somebody has an idea. Well, yeah, sure, that's true. But where did that idea come from? Why was that idea given space in a person's life, to take the time to create something about it? So the deficit is an artist looks around and sees something missing in the world.

Rick Davis (24:31):
And that's something can be, if you're a visual artist, it could be something as simple as, there's not enough blue in our world. Right. I'm being a little bit, you know, general.

President Gregory Washington (24:43):
I, I hear you.

Rick Davis (24:43):
But, but there are artists who paint like only blue things, right? Or Mark Rothko paints like only red things, right? Lots of shades of red and black, and then red, but mostly red. Or if, if you're a, if you're a theater person, uh, maybe there's a deficit of celebration, or maybe there's a deficit of, well, I like to say deficit of community. Maybe there's a deficit of harmony if you're a musician or dissonance, if that's the voice you wanna project, maybe you think the world needs to be a little more dissonant so it can sort of argue its problems out. Right? Um, and sometimes that's very conscious on the part of the artist.

Rick Davis (25:16):
A lot of times it's unconscious. But I think it always happens. You, you have an intuition that if I paint this painting, or make this sculpture, or write this play or play this song, I'm going to be adding something to the world that the world needs, even if they don't know that they need it. And even if I'm not being utilitarian and saying, yes, I'm, I'm diagnosing a particular condition and I'm creating a particular pill for it through making work, it's really more on the inside. It's really more saying, why am I gonna take the time to create if I'm not trying to fill a hole? That's the, you said that, that phrase fill a hole in the world, a hole. I think artists consciously or unconsciously, and it's often more unconscious than conscious, are looking around and feeling, you know, um, Ipsen, you, you opened with that great quote from the sculptor.

Rick Davis (26:05):
I have a quote from my favorite playwright, Henrik Ibsen, one of my favorite playwrights who said, "to be a poet is, most importantly, to see", "to be a poet is most importantly to see." So it's like, artists are our job. Our, the, the reason the world puts up with us is that we take the time to actually look around and actually see and actually feel, and we have these antennae that are tuned to what's happening in the world. Again, not necessarily in a particularly specific way, but in the, in the zeitgeist, in the, in the flow of feelings, in the, in the atmosphere. And our job is to talk about that. And, you know, sometimes it's right on the nose, you know, like Nathan the Wise turned out to be right on the nose accidentally <laugh>. Right. Uh, but sometimes it's very abstract. You, you go to a Beethoven's 9th or, or, you know, go to go to any great symphony, and you might just be transported out of your day-to-day flow for a couple hours. And that might be exactly what you need on that night.

President Gregory Washington (27:06):
Hmm. That is interesting. I, I didn't think that we were gonna go there. So that, that is, that is really interesting. Let me, let me switch gears a little bit. In the early 2000s, the acronym STEM entered the general lexicon. And as you know, I'm an engineer, right. STEM is shorthand for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. And then around 2010, right about a decade after, a new movement began to update the acronym to include the arts and change, the acronym to steam. Science, technology, engineering, arts and Mathematics. And since then, it's gone to Steam M <laugh>

Rick Davis (27:50):
Yes.

President Gregory Washington (27:51):
Medicine.

Rick Davis (27:51):
Or Steam H. Steam H.

President Gregory Washington (27:54):
Right. And so, so it has, it continues to morph. And we have arts as a requirement in our core curriculum, even in general. So what is the importance of putting arts into science and tech?

Rick Davis (28:08):
Oh. Oh, wow. How much time do we have <laugh>? It's a great question. It's a great question. Uh, I'll, I'll tell you a couple quick stories right around the time you were talking about there, we were approached, we were approached by Boeing. That doesn't usually work that way. Right. <laugh> Right? But Boeing came to us, the arts at �鶹��Ƶ, and said, you know, our current crop of engineers needs more creative thinking. Well, boy, were they Right? Right. <laugh>. Uh, and so the Boeing Northern Virginia headquarters office gave us a, you know, for us, a really sizable grant at the time, $50,000 to create educational programming, but also artistic programming on the STEAM theme. So we did a, a couple things with that money right away. We created something called the Steam Table, you know, 'cause who can resist a pun? Right

President Gregory Washington (28:59):
The Steam Table? Wow.

Rick Davis (29:00):
And we brought, we brought together our artists and scientists and engineers in a series of very interesting conversations. Uh, and out of one of those conversations, or a parallel conversation that somebody else convened, I can't remember right now. I met a guy named Paul Glenshaw, who was an aviation historian and a jazz historian, and also a very, very fine visual artist himself. Interesting. Really interesting guy. And I heard him give a talk about how aviation and jazz have had a parallel evolution in America. It's really amazing. 1903, the Wright Brothers, Buddy Bolden; 1925, Louis Armstrong; Charles Lindbergh, 1927. It's like, oh my God. And you start laying it up, you know--

President Gregory Washington (29:43):
Look, I, I hear you Rick. You know, I've worked with aerospace companies a significant portion of my career. Yeah. That's one area where you try to do things the same way.

Rick Davis (29:54):
Yeah.

President Gregory Washington (29:55):
Algorithms work the same way. And, you know, but I'm also a jazz lover.

Rick Davis (30:00):
Yep.

President Gregory Washington (30:01):
And good jazz. Great jazz has that improviser.

Rick Davis (30:07):
Yeah.

President Gregory Washington (30:08):
Where you, where you see these folk live in concert and they just take off in a direction. And you're like, whoa.

Rick Davis (30:16):
So I can bring that back to aviation.

President Gregory Washington (30:18):
Yeah. Bring it back to aviation. Because I don't see how those two fit.

Rick Davis (30:21):
Yeah. So, so aviation progressed somewhat linearly, but also with conceptual leaps. Right. There, there, there were moments when, like, when the Wright Brothers sort of figured out wing warping, right? That was a big deal. 'cause nobody was doing that before. So they could control the airplane. And they also figured out power to rate ratio. So they, they actually built an engine that could actually lift the thing which nobody had done. Then you move on. I'm gonna leap forward to a really cool thing that, 'cause we actually did a piece about this. This is where I'm going with this. So, bebop comes in, in the 1950s, late 40s, early 50s, right? At the same time as the jet age was coming along. And at a time when if you were designing a fighter plane, you didn't wanna be stable anymore. You wanted to be unstable. You wanted to have the ability for that plane to have a roll rate and a pitch deviation rate that was almost uncontrollable.

Rick Davis (31:10):
And then figure out ways to tamp that down so that it, it wouldn't kill you. And bebop is like that. If you hear, you know, Charlie Parker, you put on Thelonious Monk, I mean, you, you were talking about an unstable fighter plane, but it's a fighter plane that doesn't crash <laugh>. Right. So we did a piece on this called, "To Swing Through the Sky" that had our Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra, which is our professional jazz band that we put together, uh, and had actors and dancers. And Paul wrote a script for us. And we did this incredible video montage. We started out back in '03 with the Wright Brothers, and we ended up in, in the Space Age, and showed how jazz and flight were taking these conceptual leaps in parallel at like six or eight different junctures. And it was so incredible. We played it at the Hilton, then we played it here at Center for the Arts. We had, we've had requests to do it elsewhere. That was a Steam project because it showed everybody in the audience, which was, you know, a thousand people each time. It showed people that these two subjects actually are deeply connected in, in the case of jazz and flight, they're very American subjects. These, I mean, these are things we can legitimately celebrate as American inventions.

President Gregory Washington (32:17):
So the university has had some, some major gifts.

Rick Davis (32:22):
Yeah.

President Gregory Washington (32:22):
For our arts programs. Those have come from families who have historically supported �鶹��Ƶ in a big way. Right. Why are they so compelled to give to the arts? What has arts brought to them?

Rick Davis (32:36):
Oh man, we are so lucky, so blessed, really at George �鶹��Ƶ to have the founding energy. Really, I mean, we're still young, right? So we're young enough that the founding families <laugh>, uh, that were, that were building Fairfax County at the time, and, and Prince William as well, they're still with us. Some, some of the, some of the first generations still with us. And, and their progeny very much still with us doing that work. And I think the founders realized that, first of all, the whole idea of putting a university in a community is to build that community. I mean, it, the, the explicit intention of putting George �鶹��Ƶ in Fairfax was to build Northern Virginia and the Peterson family, the, you know, George and Joanne Johnson, the Dewberry family, the Hazel family, they have all recognized from the beginning that the arts were one of those building agents.

Rick Davis (33:29):
Right. And so they have stepped up, uh, over the decades, really, the Petersons and the Dewberrys particularly, but there are many other names we could advance, have committed in, in really significant amounts. And starting back in the nineties. So it's been a long tradition of giving. The great little story is the, the late Sid Dewberry, uh, of, of, you know, Dewberry Companies became a piano student of our own Dr. Linda Monson, who's the director of the Dewberry School of Music now. She started giving him piano lessons when he was 75 years old. I mean, she gave him piano lessons pretty much up until, you know, the month he died. Uh, and he loved playing the piano, and he loved Linda and her students. And to me, that was a, a trigger for the, they were already very generous, but that was the trigger that gave him a personal experience of the value in, in one's own life, of having expert instruction in music.

President Gregory Washington (34:26):
You know, I, I got a, the opportunity to spend time with him before he passed away, and he told me, he said, look, my goal is a hundred songs.

Rick Davis (34:37):
Oh, yes.

President Gregory Washington (34:38):
It, it was inspiring to me. I mean, I was like, 'cause he told me that he learned to play, then he had some health issues where he lost the ability to play and he had to relearn all the songs again. And he, and he did that. And I was, I'm just kind of blown away by that. And yeah, this guy can do it twice.

Rick Davis (35:00):
<laugh>, how are your lessons going, by the way?

President Gregory Washington (35:03):
Yeah, let's not talk about that Better than me. <laugh>. He can do it twice. I should be able to do it once.

Rick Davis (35:11):
But you, but you, you know, Carolyn Peterson is an, is another one, uh, Carolyn and Milt Peterson, the late Milt Peterson, another, another great developer in our area. Uh, Carolyn grew up playing music and, and acting and singing, and we have an event at her home every year called The Taste of ARTS by George! That's kind of our, our preview of the, our fall fundraiser. This event happens in the spring at, at her lovely home in Fairfax. And at the end of this event, she loves to and has done the last few years, she loves to sit at her beautiful baby grand piano and play a song or two, uh, and get the whole audience up and singing. And, and she just loves, and I talked to Jon, her son, Jon Peterson, about this waiting in line at commencement last year, I think it was. And he said, yeah, they do that anywhere. If there's a piano and there's a group, you know, like they're up in Maine with their friends and neighbors up there, Carolyn will sit down and, and start playing because they recognize that that brings people together. So it's kind of, the arts create community all over again, but in a living room,

President Gregory Washington (36:10):
It brings people together and a actually creates joy. I've seen one of those sessions and it's just fabulous. Just fabulous. As we wrap up, I want you to talk about our future generation and young people who we have been bestowed the privilege, uh, to educate, to train, and to lead. Talk to me about what legacy, relative to the arts, what legacy would you like to leave with them?

Rick Davis (36:37):
Yeah. Oh, wow. Well, I'm coming at this from a perspective right now. The day that we're recording this podcast, I'm in the middle of rehearsing a student production of Shakespeare's "The Tempest". And so I'm with students, you know, till till 10:00 PM uh, every night, these, these past few weeks. And I say that because it's the greatest joy that I can have in my life is to be in that setting. And I'm, I'm with these students for hours and hours and hours for six weeks. So I, I have a really contemporary perspective on this. Uh, these students are hungry, particularly the, the pandemic generation, which is still working its way through the educational system. They are hungry for interactions, they're hungry for real things. They're hungry for working together on things, uh, in the room, sort of working it out in the room. And to me, that's what a, a good artistic process is about.

Rick Davis (37:31):
An artistic process is not unlike an engineering process in that it is recursive and iterative. You, you have to try something, see if it works. If it doesn't work, you try something else. If it does work, but not as well as you'd like, you, you keep on that path. But you adjust it, it, it's a, it's a cycle of critical thinking, really.

President Gregory Washington (37:50):
I agree.

Rick Davis (37:50):
That where you keep developing, keep developing, and finally you have opening night. So that's your, that's your deliverable. If it's a show, if you're a individual artist, you know, you might not have an opening night so you can keep working on it 'til you to get it right. <laugh>. Uh, but, but you probably do have, you probably have a gallery opening or something you have to shoot for. But the idea is that the artistic work is never really done. You know, we're gonna, we're gonna run this play, uh, The Tempest for six performances, I think, in Harris Theater. It will be different on performance number six than it was on opening night. And I hope it's different in a better way, but it's gonna be different <laugh>, right? Because the, the students are gonna keep learning from each other. They're gonna keep trying things. And to me, that's the great value of the arts. And it, it kind of goes back to your earlier question about students from around the university taking arts courses. In a good arts course, you learn that iterative process. You learn that critical thinking process. You learn about sort of testing hypotheses, but those hypotheses might be language or music or images. And what does this image say to you? And, and how can you make it better? How can you understand it differently? And that circular thought process really is the essence of artistic creation, which is why I think students, once they experience it, they love it.

President Gregory Washington (39:03):
Outstanding, outstanding, outstanding. And what a legacy. And what a legacy, indeed. Well, Rick, we're gonna have to leave it there. Thank you for continuing to bring the arts to the George �鶹��Ƶ community and beyond. And of course, I would be remiss if I didn't do a plug to support the arts in Northern Virginia, and to encourage our listening audience to come enjoy a show, check out an exhibit, or donate for a lasting legacy through our �鶹��Ƶ Now campaign. So, I, I just want to thank you for all that you've done and all that. I know that you will continue to do Rick

Rick Davis (39:41):
<laugh> right back at you, Mr. President. Thank you.

President Gregory Washington (39:43):
Outstanding. Well, I am George �鶹��Ƶ, president Gregory Washington. Thanks for listening. And tune in next time for more conversations that show why we are all together different.

Outro (40:00):
If you like what you heard on this podcast, go to podcast.gmu.edu for more of Gregory Washington's conversations with the thought leaders, experts, and educators who take on the grand challenges facing our students and graduates in higher education. That's podcast gmu.edu.

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Honoring the Legacy of Bill Reeder

Emily Schneider — Wed, 16 Apr 2025 14:33:25 +0000

Honoring the Legacy of Bill Reeder Emily Schneider Wed, 04/16/2025 - 10:33

In This Story

William Reeder

I am so very sorry to share the sad news of Bill Reeder's death, surrounded by his family in hospice care after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Bill was the Founding Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA), joining us in 2001 to lead the newly formed college after a distinguished career as an operatic tenor and arts administrator.

Bill Reeder at a university event with his customary smile and style.

He served as Dean until May 2015, and continued to work, as a faculty member (and a term as Director), of the Arts Management program, one of three new academic programs (including Film and Video Studies and Computer Game Design) that were launched under his leadership. These programs have helped shape CVPA into the comprehensive arts college that it is today. He had a transformative physical impact on the arts landscape at �鶹��Ƶ as well, securing for CVPA the planned "Academic V" facility, now known as the award-winning Art & Design Building, coordinating philanthropic, state, and university support for the DeLaski Performing Arts Building addition, and the renovation of what became the Music Theater Building.

Carol Merchant Kirby, Bill Reeder (center), and Provost David Wu at the Hylton Performing Arts Center Education and Rehearsal Wing ribbon cutting ceremony in 2019. Photo by Evan Cantwell.

His crowning achievement was the successful realization of a long-held community vision for an arts center serving Manassas and Prince William County. Bill's tenacious, loquacious, always-optimistic advocacy, expressed in countless breakfast meetings in diners, neighborhood gatherings, political forums, and rounds of golf with prospective supporters, led to the creation of the Hylton Performing Arts Center on what is now the Science & Technology Campus. At times it seemed as if Bill was almost single-handedly willing the center into existence — but it was really his tireless behind-the-scenes coordination of university, civic, and volunteer energy that carried the day. He was honored for his accomplishment at the Hylton Center's 5th Anniversary Gala in 2015. At this year's Gala, we will take a moment — or three — to remember Bill's foundational contributions.

Bill will be remembered for his energetic and passionate advocacy for artists of all kinds and at every stage of their journeys. I will always be grateful for his friendship and mentorship over 25 years of personal and professional collaboration.

Bill Reeder and Dean Davis celebrating together at an Arts Management program event before Reeder's retirement from George �鶹��Ƶ. Photo by Setarra Kennedy.

Details regarding memorial arrangements will be forthcoming. If you would like to share memories and photographs of your experiences with Bill, please submit them through this form.

Bill's full obituary, provided by his family, can be accessed here.

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Storytelling Through Sound with Juan Megna

Tionge Johnson — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 02:58:28 +0000

Storytelling Through Sound with Juan Megna Tionge Johnson Wed, 02/26/2025 - 21:58

Get Tickets to the Juan Megna Trio

Matinee Idylls concerts give audience members a small ensemble concert experience in an intimate setting, followed by a dessert reception and opportunity to speak with the artists. The final installment in our 2024–25 Matinee Idylls series spotlights the Juan Megna Trio (3/5). The trio is led by Argentinian-born Megna, a �鶹��Ƶ alumnus and Dewberry School of Music professor who is a percussionist and drummer with expansive musical influences.

Juan Megna

“My music is deeply inspired by the melodies and rhythms of Afro-Brazilian traditions,” Megna said. “My sound is shaped by both my formal education and my experiences on the road, which allows me to blend technical expertise with the organic influences of lived musical encounters. Through my original compositions, I strive to create a bridge between my personal journey and the rich cultural heritage that inspires me.”

Megna came to the George �鶹��Ƶ community in 2017 as a Doctor of Musical Arts student and thankfully, stayed on as a professor and leader of the School of Music Latin American Ensemble.

“Being a music educator keeps me artistically fresh and constantly evolving,” Megna said. “My students bring new ideas, perspectives, and repertoire to our discussions, challenging me to stay engaged with emerging musical trends. I consider myself fortunate to be surrounded by such passionate learners, it pushes me to grow, adapt, and refine my own artistic voice. This continuous exchange of knowledge and creativity inevitably influences my music, making it more dynamic and contemporary.”

Recently, Megna released an album of mostly original compositions: the Mariwô Project. The music, inspired by traditional melodies and rhythms of the Afro-Brazilian religion Candomblé, also fuses Argentinian sounds.

Megna shares: “Mariwô has been a long and rewarding journey. Having lived in Brazil for over 13 years, my compositions are deeply rooted in my engagement with Afro-Brazilian communities. During my doctoral studies, I had the opportunity to experiment with and refine this repertoire alongside my ensemble, shaping the music into what it is today. The album came to life through an intensive two-day studio recording, featuring a phenomenal quintet and guest artists. We also captured the essence of the project in a recorded live performance, which is available on my YouTube channel. Now, I’m thrilled to bring this music to the Hylton Performing Arts Center in a trio format, accompanied by two amazing musicians from Brazil: José Luiz Martins on piano and Artur Carneiro on bass. It will be a special afternoon of rhythm, energy, and storytelling through sound.”

Tickets for the Juan Megna Trio on March 5 are available now!

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Turning skeletal remains into hope as forensic art professor and students help to solve a 50-year-old cold case

ckearney — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 18:54:15 +0000

Turning skeletal remains into hope as forensic art professor and students help to solve a 50-year-old cold case ckearney Wed, 12/18/2024 - 13:54

�鶹��Ƶ’s Joe Mullins thinks he has the coolest job in the world, and calls what he does ‘art with a purpose.’

The field of forensic art is no longer limited to sketches—it has evolved into a powerful tool that helps bring closure to unsolved cases and missing persons investigations. Combining cutting-edge technology with artistic skill, forensic artists can reconstruct faces and features from skeletal remains, often providing vital clues law enforcement needs to solve cold cases.

Mullins (center) with Loudoun County Sheriff's Office. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

Mullins, a forensic artist and adjunct professor, exemplifies this new era of forensic art. Most recently, detectives from nearby Loudoun County, Virginia, turned to him to help on one of their oldest cold cases. He collaborated with students in his AVT 496 Forensic Figure Sculpture class, in the School of Art within George �鶹��Ƶ’s College of Visual and Performing Arts, to create a lifelike, three-dimensional clay reconstruction of a woman known only as “Jane Doe,” whose remains were discovered on May 28, 1973. Advancements in forensic science and technology reopened the case after decades without a lead.

Using a 3D scan of the victim’s skull and DNA data, revealing traits such as eye color, hair type, and body composition, Mullins and his students sculpted a bust that depicts the features of an African American woman believed to have been in her 20s or 30s. She had been shot, carried no identification, and local law enforcement had no reports of anyone missing who fit that description at the time. Loudoun County detectives hope that this lifelike construction will lead to someone finally recognizing her.

“Forensic artists are often the last hope for these cases,” he said. “So, with that comes a lot of responsibility to get it right. The only way these reconstructions work is if the right person sees it. With nearly 8 billion people on the planet, we just need one, and one person to say, ‘I think I know who that is.’”

That happened in 2015, when a clay bust he created helped identify a John Doe in New York City when a family member recognized the face. He hopes for a similar outcome with Jane Doe.

Mullins, who also serves as a senior forensic imaging specialist at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), incorporates real cases into his teaching.

“Watching a face come to life gives students a deeper connection to their work,” he said. “They became just as emotionally invested in this case as I did.”  

George �鶹��Ƶ’s Forensic Science Program within the College of Science played a critical role in reopening the investigation. Assistant professor Steven Burmeister used on ground-penetrating radar to guide Loudoun County investigators to locate Jane Doe’s remains in 2023, which were exhumed from an unmarked grave in Lincoln, Virginia. The remains were analyzed by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, where a DNA profile was created.

For students like senior communication major Marie Elizabeth Seagraves, the class was transformative.

“I originally took this class because it seemed fun and super-interesting, as I’ve never done sculpture work before,” Seagraves said. “But learning how this work can help so many people find closure made it so much more meaningful.”

The work has already garnered significant media attention, and the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office hopes the renewed interest will lead to a breakthrough of this case and at long last bring some measure of peace to Jane Doe’s family.

According to Mullins, there are more than 2,000 unidentified sets of remains in offices of local medical examiners across the country. Having grown up in Loudoun County, he was moved by the opportunity to contribute to a case so close to home.

“I’ve never been able to fully articulate the feeling when one of these reconstructions is successful,” he said. “Helping these families get the answers they have been searching for is all the satisfaction I need.”

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