About the author

Author Bio

George Sampson has worked in the arts since 1967.  As an Amherst College student, a professional and then a volunteer board member, he worked in administrative and technical roles across a wide variety of art: rock, blues, jazz, classical music and dance, to performance art, theater and the visual arts.  Beginning in music at Paul’s Mall jazz club and Don Law’s rock concerts in Boston, he moved to New Mexico to be involved with a jazz presenter.  Returning east to earn an MFA at Columbia, his New York years included work at Lincoln Center, Outward Visions artist managers, theater artist Robert Wilson, the Kool Jazz Festival, a Native American art gallery and more.

In 1986, he returned to New Mexico to co-lead Southwest Ballet, the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra and the Jazz Workshop.

Hired in 1994 by the University of Virginia as Director of Development for the Arts, he catalyzed fundraising for the Arts Grounds a $200 million project to construct, renovate or expand buildings for the arts resulting in the 2008 completion of 3 building projects.

In 2005 Mr. Sampson was asked to launch teaching initiatives in Arts Administration and then Design Thinking.  Seeing a commonality of human creativity between the two fields, his classes researched connections between creative work by artists and innovation in other fields.  A forthcoming book will explore these discoveries.

He is co-author of business cases from Darden Publishing 2009 and Sagamore 2023. Executive Producer of 2013 film Creative Proposition, by Kartemquin Films with Bill T. Jones, and CDs from Billy Bang & Bill Cole 2011 and Bill Cole & Joeseph Daley 2015. 

Mr. Sampson retired from teaching with Emeritus status in 2024.