Visual, Performing, and Media Arts
Welcome to the Visual, Performing, and Media Arts area. We comprise three departments on the Rockville Campus (art, performing arts, and media arts and technologies), the arts cohort on the Germantown Campus, and the Visual and Performing Arts Department on the Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus.
Through instruction and training in a variety of formats, including lecture, demonstration, and hands-on participation, students gain experience in art, music, dance, theatre, photography, film, graphic design, web design, animation and gaming, and television and radio. Associate of arts degrees and certificate programs expand employment opportunities or prepare students for transfer to four-year institutions.
Dr. Frank Trezza began as the Dean of Visual, Performing, and Media Arts at Montgomery College in February 2018. Dr. Trezza was most recently at SUNY New Paltz where he served as Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Theatre Arts. In addition to his administrative, teaching, and scholarly duties at SUNY New Paltz, Dr. Trezza has continued his professional theatre work through his affiliation with the Half Moon Theatre in Hudson Valley, New York, where he was a freelance actor and director. Prior to his arrival at SUNY New Paltz, Dr. Trezza held previous faculty and administrative positions as Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Theatre Arts at Bradley University, Illinois, and as Associate Dean and Director of Academics at Florida State University’s School of Theatre, Florida.
Dr. Trezza brings a wealth of experience, both academically and professionally, to the Visual, Performing, and Media Arts (VPMA) area. He trained professionally with the legendary Uta Hagen and at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA). He spent a dozen years as a theatre artist based in NYC, and his professional theatre credentials as an actor and director include work in NYC and around the country in film, television, and on the stage. He has directed numerous college plays as well as having directed several works off-Broadway including “My Father, My Son” at the South Street Theatre; “Overruled” and “Village Wooing” at Avalon Repertory Theatre; and “The Actor Chronicles” at Cubiculo Theatre. As an actor, he has toured with “The Adventures of Don Quixote,” “Hamlet,” and “Macbeth” with the National Theatre of the Performing Arts and acted in several off-Broadway and regional productions. His combination of academic leadership and professional engagement with students and local thespians, ensures he will provide an exciting, challenging, and engaging environment for the faculty and students in the VPMA area.
Dr. Trezza earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the State University of New York (SUNY), Purchase College’s Theatre Arts Conservatory, a Master of Fine Arts in Directing from the City University of New York, Brooklyn College, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Theatre Studies from Florida State University.
Nationally, Dr. Trezza has presented papers, panels, and workshops at a variety of conferences including the National Communication Association (NCA) and the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE). He has also served in leadership positions for national associations including ATHE, the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST), and the National Theatre Conference (NTC), and has had professional affiliations with Voice and Speech Trainers Association (VASTA), Literary Managers & Dramaturgs of America (LMDA), the Ibsen Society of America, Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), Screen Actors Guild (SAG) – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), and the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers (SSDC), among others already noted.
Support Staff
Academic Departments
Art Department - Germantown
Department Chair: Tendai Johnson
Art Department - Rockville
Department Chair: Tendai Johnson
Media Arts & Technologies Department - Rockville
Department Chair: Katherine Hubley
Performing Arts Department - Rockville
Department Chair: Alvin Trask
Visual and Performing Arts Department - Takoma Park/Silver Spring
Department Chair: Norberto Gomez
Degrees and Certificates
- Digital Animation AAS
- General Graphic Design Area of Concentration, Graphic Design AAS
- Illustration Area of Concentration, Graphic Design AAS
- Graphic Design, AFA Statewide Program (Department of Visual and Performing Arts and Community Arts)
- Digital Animation Certificate
- Graphic Design with Digital Tools Certificate
More Programs and Courses
Noncredit Classes
Community Arts provides noncredit classes for professional and aspiring artists, taught by working artists. We build our schedule based on community needs and interests, so we'd love to hear from you. Find out more.