Published: March 1, 1999

The Chancellor's Community Lecture Series will host a talk by Richard Devin, producing artistic director of the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, titled "The Place of the Artist in U.S. Society" on Wednesday, March 10 at the Boulder Public Library.

The lecture will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the library's main auditorium and is free and open to the public. The event is co-sponsored by CU-Boulder Chancellor Richard L. Byyny and the Boulder Public Library.

Devin is a professor of theatre design and arts management in the department of theatre and dance at CU-Boulder. In addition to his current position, Devin has been a lighting designer for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival. He has designed more than 30 regional theaters including several productions off-Broadway and in Hong Kong and Tokyo.

"It is important to discuss whether society believes the artist should simply entertain us as opposed to teaching us something about ourselves," Devin said.

Devin is the 1997 recipient of the CU-Boulder Faculty Assembly Award for Service and was elected to the distinguished National Theatre Conference in 1996. From 1988 to 1991, he served as president of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology, an association of more than 4,000 design and production professionals in the performing arts.

CU-Boulder jazz Professor Willie Hill, the first African American to be inducted into the Colorado Music Educators Hall of Fame, will present the final program in the Chancellor's Community Lecture series on May 5. Hill will perform with his Jazz Quintet. Hill is president of the International Association of Jazz Educators and immediate past-president of the Colorado Music Educators Association.

For more information, contact the CU-Boulder Office of Community Relations at 303-492-8384.