PATRIOT PROFILE

Dominique Dowling

YEAR: Junior

MAJOR: Integrative Studies

HOMETOWN:

Richmond, Virginia

Junior Dominique Dowling has been working to enact social change since high school. She joined the university’s NAACP chapter in her second year at Mason, and now she is the group’s vice president.

GETTING INVOLVED: Through the chapter, she has been involved in numerous panels and committees, which inspired her to do more antiracism work on campus. “Being part of the NAACP has exposed me to different initiatives and people who have been doing this work for years,” she says. “It made me realize that antiracism work requires an ongoing dedication because there is always work to be done.”

BEING PART OF THE SOLUTION: During her time at Mason, Dowling has been involved with a number of organizations, including Student Government. She is also on the AntiRacism and Inclusive Excellence Task Force, serving on the Student Voice and University Policies and Practices committees. She was excited to be involved with the task force because she believes students are often left out of the conversation. “Many times our voices are not heard due to the lack of representation or the simple fact that one student can’t express the concerns of more than 30,000 students,” says Dowling. “I felt like this was my opportunity to elevate the voices and grievances that many students have.” THINKING ABOUT THE FUTURE: When asked about her career goals, Dowling is clear about her aspirations: She wants to one day be the U.S. secretary of education. With that goal in mind, she plans to continue on at Mason to complete her MEd, and then become an elementary school teacher and eventually work in school administration. And she says her task force work has influenced her trajectory. “I want to implement antiracist and social justice components into my teaching,” she says. “Through administrative roles, I want to help other teachers to also implement those principles so that young people don’t have to wait until they get the opportunity to take a college course on identity to become aware of inequities.”

Dowling is one of the more than 130 faculty, staff, and students involved in the Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Task Force. These individuals are being profiled in the new online series Mason Lighting the Way: Spotlights from the Task Force. To see more of their stories, go to arie.gmu.edu.

Nathan Loda in his home studio with one of his daughters

Reproductions of Young Betsy Ross (right) and Young Ben Franklin (top right) are available through Loda’s website.

Painting the Past

Imagining this nation’s Founding Fathers as real people can be a difficult task. Fortunately, Nathan Loda, MFA Art and Visual Technology ’15, has found a solution— creating paintings that reimagine the Founding Fathers as hipsters. The idea originated as a commission from the Farmers Restaurant Group in 2016, but Loda has continued the series in the years since with his paintings of Betsy Ross, Ben Franklin, and others hanging in the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

He also has a commissioned painting in the new Education and Rehearsal Wing of Mason’s Hylton Performing Arts Center that depicts musicians participating in the Veterans and the Arts Initiative.

Loda’s life has changed greatly since working as an adjunct professor at Mason in 2017. He and his wife had two children and moved to rural Homer, New York. The change of scenery may seem like a strange choice to some, but Loda saw the move as an enticing opportunity. “I was ready to try a career as a full-time painter,” he says. “And with the relatively low cost of living up here, I thought it would be a great place to sink or swim.”

The move to New York and the switch to full-time painting have also affected Loda’s perspective and work. “The idea of being a full-time working artist is probably my biggest inspiration,” he says. “Waking up every day with a work schedule that says it’s time to paint is a rewarding lifestyle for me and keeps me wanting to do it longer.”

Loda splits his attention between gallery work, in which he can express himself creatively, and commissions. “A lot of my current business can be traced back to connections that I created while I was a graduate student at Mason.”

One of the key factors that led Loda to choose Mason was the many facilities available to students. “I was blown away [by] the Art and Design Building and the incredible studio spaces. I remember thinking that, between the 2D studios, wood shop, and metal shop, I could fabricate just about anything I could imagine.”

Loda still vividly remembers his Mason experience. “Showing up to my graduate studio and having the opportunity to paint in a setting where people could easily stop by, and new connections were made almost weekly, was invaluable to my career today.”

He encourages artists at Mason to take advantage of the opportunities available to them. “Try and create as many networking connections as you can while in school and while you have so many resources at your fingertips.”

—Liam Griffin, BA ’20