Asma Chaudhary | A. Chaudhary interiors

ArtsBus is sponsored by the department of Art and Visual Technology and the College of Visual and Performing Arts. Founded in 1987 by Professor Jerry Clapsaddle, ArtsBus will celebrate the end of its second decade this spring. The program is an integral part of our AVT curriculum.

We make three all-day bus trips to New York City each semester. Our trips are for GMU students and faculty, but we welcome the larger community to join us.

If you would like to join the trip, please follow these easy steps:

Choose a day for the trip.
Purchase the ticket.
Arrive to the bus on time.

AVT students will have to enroll in AVT 300, which provides transcript credit and charges a $50 fee included in GMU tuition.

All non-majors and other passengers will have to pay $60.

Methods of purchase:

Call the Box Office of the Center for the Arts at 703.993.2787
www.tickets.com or 888.945.2468, with a charge of $3.75 per ticket and $1.50 per order
Go directly to the Center for the Arts Box Office to pick up tickets

Important Information:

Tickets must be picked up by the Friday before the 6 a.m. departure on Saturday
Buses leave promptly at 6 a.m. from the GMU Fairfax Campus
Boarding begins at 5:30 a.m. by the Finley Building by Lot H, where you may park
ArtsBus is self-guided, however, AVT faculty will conduct tours for the first two hours

Katiuska Arias, a junior graphic design major discussed the ArtsBus trip.

“I do have mixed feelings on this trip. I think that it is a great idea to have an opportunity for us to go and see art in galleries up in New York, however sometimes it's just inconvenient and a hassle,” said Arias.

Although the trip to New York City provides many benefits, students and faculty must find time and leave work to devote an entire day for the trip. Students are often worried if they will get a ticket in time or miss the bus early in the morning or on the way home.

Also, when students are often funding school on their own, they are not ready to spend a large amount of money in New York City for galleries and museums.

Arias said, “It's also just hard because I don't know the city, and I don't always have someone to go with me. Although there's a Washington, DC alternate assignment now, that tends to be hard as well because it's a set amount of museums and galleries that we have to go to in order to get credit for the ArtsBus trip.”

Despite the dissatisfaction, students continue to take the New York City trip versus the Washington, DC alternative because it still allows more freedom with time and availability.

“I think I wish that it wasn't required, but I can understand why it is. It's just not an easy trip for everyone to make,” said Arias.

Quick Links

-George Mason University
-Communications
-Art and Visual Technology
-GMU Artsbus
-GoMason.com Sports
-Mason Gazette
-Mason Traditions

ArtsBus Program to New York

Nikki S. Lee (photography)

Christo and Jeanne-Claude Web

The Yes Men Web site