The Ideal of Community, 2023

Alecsis (Lecsi) Pillar @maeberry_arts

Location: Student Union Building 1 (SUB1) on the GMU Fairfax Campus

The Ideal of Community by Alecsis Pillar celebrates stories of diversity, friendship, and solidarity in Mason’s student experience at this critical moment in history.

Each mural panel displays a piece of the story through vignettes of campus life: studying in the library; relaxing at a picnic; cheering at a big game; gardening in the greenhouse; having fun at Mason Day; and cozying up by a campfire.

Each story unfolds visually through hundreds of small details that bring unique identities to each figure, such as stickers on water bottles, tattoos, hair colors, phone cases, clothing styles and assistive devices used by disabled students. The lives and stories of every figure is woven into the whole of the work, right down to the brush strokes of each panel. It is the totality of these unique experiences that create our diverse community.

The murals were commissioned for SUB1’s Patriots Lounge by Murals at Mason and Student Government. This location was chosen because of its proximity to student-support offices including the LGBTQ+ Resources Office; the Center for Culture, Equity, and Empowerment; the Student Support and Advocacy Center; Counseling and Psychological Services; Disability Services, Military Services, and other University administration offices. The scale and complexity of this project took over a year to realize through this manifestation of George Mason University’s diversity and representation.

Special Thanks to Project Sponsors

University Life Programming Grant
Student Centers
College of Visual and Performing Arts
Operations and Business Services
Office of Student Scholarship, Creative Activities, and Research
School of Art

Special Thanks to Project Collaborators

Max Applbaum, Ben Ashworth, Jennifer Connors, Ethan Delloro Connell, Brent Ericson, John Forgy, Sisc Johnson, Naomi Martinez Jones, Dr. Jennifer Kahler, Liam Keen, Josh Kinchen, Christina Lehnertz, Kristin Leonato, Steven Luu, Stephen Morehouse, Abdulrahman Naanseh, Dr. Margaret Olszewska, Colin Patterson-McAulay, Donald Russell, Yassmin Salem, Aarush Sivaram Jambunathan, Caroline Sonner, Ash Smith, University Art Collections Advisory Committee, Chris Vitello, Dr. Tamara Washington, Dr. Adrienne White, Dr. Stephen Wintermeyer, Robert Yi