George Mason is most certainly a school that celebrates its academic achievements—from being named the second most challenging high school in the nation by Newsweek magazine to the parties held each quarter for those on the Principal’s Scholars list. Sports also get their fair share of recognition, in the Lasso, the News-Press and on the morning announcements. The IB Art show is an especially rare treat, a chance to fete our wealth of talented artisans, who often go overlooked. 

The 2001 Art Show was the biggest ever at this school, and was positively enormous compared to those at other IB schools in the area. The auditorium stage overflowed with works from IB Art classes taught by both Mr. Ballou and Mr. Dickson, and was available for public viewing at an open house on April 26. "I was pleased that we were able to get everybody in," commented featured artist Kate Zimmermann, "there was talk about not everything getting in because of the large numbers of artists and works involved." The event was well-attended, and many students got a look at the artwork of their peers during school that week as well. "The art show was stunning," said senior Amanda Henneberg, "I had no idea that there was so much talent in our school." 

A wide range of media was represented in the show, from fashion design to computer graphics to the classic painting, drawing and photography. "The diversity of the art show was what really impressed me," said sophomore Kevin Kuhn, "it was anything but monotonous." The aesthetics of the show were also greatly enhanced by a great amount of set-up work and painting performed by the Stage Crew. 

As the art show drew to a close, sophomore art connoisseur Chris Campanelli lamented; "It’s a shame we are only able to appreciate the works of these artists only once a year."