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WASHINGTON (April 11, 2023) — Emerging artists at the George Washington University’s Corcoran School of the Arts and Design will present their work at NEXT Festival. NEXT, the school’s annual showcase, features graduating students’ projects in studio arts, dance, design, photography, sculpture, music and other mediums.
This year, the Corcoran School is launching a festival format to showcase the school’s diverse programming, with performances, exhibitions, and symposia across campus. The festival offers an opportunity to highlight the school’s dynamic programs and cultivates more interdisciplinary partnerships among the students and faculty.
NEXT will feature more than 40 physical exhibits, 15 live performances, and a series of panel and research presentations by undergraduate and graduate students in fine arts, design, theater, dance, music, interior architecture, museum studies, art history and more.
The in-person programming and exhibitions will be open to the public starting April 20 - May 20, 2023. NEXT’s annual celebration (an “Extravaganza”) on May 4, 2023 includes a series of durational performances, site-specific dances and interactive experiences.
“The projects on display at NEXT Festival represent the culmination of years’ worth of work, growth, and discovery,” said Lauren Onkey, the director of the Corcoran School. “Behind each student’s work is a desire to contribute to the pressing issues of our larger community. The students are claiming space and working across disciplines in very exciting ways.”
HIGHLIGHTED EVENTS & ARTISTS
This year’s work reflects an expansion of art across disciplines. It reflects students’ processes and experimentation cultivated by the last few years including, for many, a period of self-reflection and revitalization following the pandemic. While NEXT is a show for the public, it is also an active learning environment for students, requiring on-site, in-the-moment learning.
Special Event Highlights include:
- NEXT Spring Dance Concert
- Dudley Memorial Lecture featuring Valerie Cassel Oliver, curator of Modern
- and Contemporary Art at VMFA.
- Museum Studies Annual Symposium featuring Nehemiah Dixon III & Vesela Sretenovic, from the Phillips Collection.
- Music senior capstone performances in the historic Salon Doré.
- The annual Art & Design Exhibition in the Flagg Building Galleries.
Student Project Highlights include:
- Visual art activations by Soffia Obando Carcamo (Studio Arts BFA) and Christina Villadolid (Social Practice MFA).
- Music performances by Nica Albertston and Anne Laurie Joseph (Music BFA)
- Photo & Design work by Will Allen-Dupraw (New Media Photojournalism MA) and Alex Tan (Graphic Design BFA)
- Site-specific dance choreographed by Zoe Warren (Dance BA)
ABOUT THE CORCORAN
The Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at GW is dedicated to educating the next generation of cultural leaders. Offering over 20 undergraduate and graduate degrees, with 500 students, the Corcoran comprises creative arts, humanities, professional art and museum-world curricula within the liberal arts environment of the Columbian College at GW.
Students at the Corcoran have exhibited their thesis work for more than 30 years. In 2011, the exhibition came to be known as NEXT in a nod to the public seeing “what’s next” in contemporary art and scholarship. This year’s NEXT evolves into a festival format to encompass the diversity of all the school’s programs and provide much public facing programming for the DC community.
Admission for NEXT is free and open to the public from April 20 - May 20, 2023 at locations across GW’s campus. Hours and events are found within our festival guide. Visitors can RSVP for NEXT Festival Extravaganza night on May 4, 2023 here. Follow our #next23 to see more on our instagram page and visit our website for complete event listings.
-GW-