Speaker Series 2015 Kickoff: Dan Jacobs AB '81

Please join us Tuesday, February 10th for the Club's 2015 Speaker Series kickoff. Harvard alumnus and current DU art professor Dan Jacobs '81 will discuss the reclamation of an 80-year-old, long-lost DU campus Shakespeare mural.

"Reclaiming Campus Memories: John Thompson's "Shakespeare Mural" and the role of visual art in campus memory at the University of Denver"

A great university campus is not only a place of learning, but also a place where important social bonds are formed for the good of students, alumni and the community at large. Visual art and the built environment play an important role in this process, providing the setting for long-lasting memories and attachments. The story of the rediscovery and restoration of an important artwork on the University of Denver campus illustrates the power and potential of visual art and architecture on campus.

John Thompson's 1929 theater mural depicting scenes from Shakespeare plays was painted over in 1931 and soon forgotten. Rediscovered by curator Dan Jacobs in 2007 and fully restored under his direction, it forms the centerpiece of one of DU's most significant gathering places, the newly dedicated Scott Reiman Theater at the Daniels College of Business (also the venue for this talk). The story weaves together the discovery and restoration of the artwork with a growing understanding of the intentions of key University players of the 1920's and 1930's. Jacobs suggests ways to fulfill some of these objectives through the arts as we strive to revitalize the college experience for new generations.
 



Dan Jacobs is the first full-time director of the University of Denver's Victoria H. Myhren Gallery. Jacobs, whose 30-year career includes positions at the Denver Art Museum and Getty Conservation Institute, has also served as Curator of University Art Collections since his appointment in 2005. Before coming to DU, Jacobs was a consulting scholar and co-curator for projects at the Timken Museum of Art in San Diego. He served at the Denver Art Museum from 1990 to 1998 as Director of Public Affairs & Development and as Assistant Director for Special Projects. 
In 2012, Jacobs opened DU's Hampden Art Study Center, a fully-equipped facility for housing, researching and teaching from the University Art Collections, which now includes over 3000 catalogued artworks. In 2014, DU re-dedicated the 1929 Shakespeare Mural by late faculty member John Thompson--an important work painted over and lost in 1931. He rediscovered the mural in 2009 and directed a 7-year restoration.
In 1981, he graduated from Harvard College in Art History. In 1984, he obtained his M.B.A. from UCLA, and in 2004 he received the M.A. in Art History from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Jacobs' personal research interests include the historical and contemporary uses of the human body in artworks, including anatomical art.
 
GETTING THERE AND PARKING:  Take I-25 to University Blvd, going south on University.  In about 1/2 mile, turn right onto Warren Dr.  There is a roundabout-- go 5/8 of the way around it (yes, five-eighths) and park in lot 304N.  Please pay for parking--$1.50 will be plenty.  

From the lot, walk northeast toward the intersection of University and Evans.  As you near the road, you will pass between the Daniels College of Business on your right and Margery Reed Hall on your left.  The Reiman Theater is in Margery Reed Hall, immediately in front of you when you enter.

If parking in Lot 304N lacks, there is a public parking lot on the southeast corner of University and Evans.