May Fakhriyazdi, Staff Writer
As Halloween draws closer, organizations at George Mason University have begun to create new and creative ways of celebrating the holiday.
For the fifth year in a row, the American Institute of Graphic Arts is holding their annual “Extreme Pumpkin Makeover” event.
In years past, the event has been limited to art and visual technology major students only. This year, for the first time, the event is open to all students, staff and faculty members at Mason.
“Anyone who wants [to] can participate,” said Lindsey Smith, a junior graphic design major and member of AIGA.
“All you have to do is create a visual art piece. It can be anything from a poster, to a sculpture, to a film. The only requirement is that it include some aspect of a pumpkin, like texture or color,” said Smith.
“It’s really fun, and you can win a lot of cool prizes and have your work presented at the new School of Art Gallery on campus and the Point in Space Gallery in downtown Fairfax,” she said.
The event is being sponsored by companies like Sodexo, as well as the George Mason Bookstore.
By submitting your artwork to the third floor of the School of Art building between 10:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. today through Tuesday your masterpiece will be submitted to a pool of other artwork for a chance to win giveaway prizes.
“Because we are being sponsored by Sodexo, they are giving us gift cards which we will be using as prizes. The Mason bookstore is also giving us cool gifts like Mason sweaters, t-shirts and bags,” said Smith.
To accommodate each artist’s specific talent, the categories have been arranged so that everyone has an equal chance at winning. There will be categories such as “Most Creative” and “Most Visually Appealing” from which artist’s can win prizes.
“It’s nice because the contest is open to everybody. This is the first open call for students’ work and we’re always looking for opportunities to show our art,” said Kannan Cangro, an art education graduate student.
The American Institute of Graphic Arts will be providing food and hosting the band RadioRadio from 7 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday where the winners will be announced at a reception held at 7 p.m. on the second floor of the School of Art building.
Don Starr, an assistant professor and academic advisor for the School of Art, reminds all that “AIGA-GMU has been putting on this contest for a while now and I have a feeling this will be one of the larger collections of artwork. We invite all to participate, faculty included.”
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