Mar. 6, 2009 – Sir Ken Robinson, internationally recognized leader in the development of creativity, innovation, education and human resources, will deliver the keynote address for the 60th anniversary celebration of the College of Fine Arts at the University of Utah. The lecture will take place Monday, March 9 at 6 p.m. in the Libby Gardner Hall on the University of Utah campus and is free and open to the public.
The address is this year’s David P. Gardner Graduate Lecture Series in Humanities and Fine Artsadministered through the Tanner Humanities Center.
Robinson has worked with national governments in Europe and Asia, with international agencies, Fortune 500 companies and not-for-profit corporations.
He has worked with some of the world’s leading cultural organizations including the Royal Shakespeare Company, Sir Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, the Royal Ballet, the Hong Academy for Performing Arts, the European Commission, UNESCO, the Council of Europe, the J Paul Getty Trust and the Education Commission of the States. For ten years he was professor of education at the University of Warwick in England and is now professor emeritus.
In 1998, he led a national commission on creativity, education and the economy for the government of the UK, bringing together leading business people, scientists, artists and educators. His report, All Our Futures: Creativity, Culture and Education (The Robinson Report) was published to huge acclaim. The London Times said: “This report raises some of the most important issues facing business in the 21st century. It should have every CEO and human resources director thumping the table and demanding action.”
He was the central figure in developing a strategy for creative and economic development as part of the peace process in Northern Ireland, working with the ministers for training, education enterprise and culture. The resulting blueprint for change, Unlocking Creativity, was adopted by politicians of all parties and by business, education and cultural leaders across the Province.
Robinson was one of four international advisors to the Singapore Government for its strategy to become the creative hub of South East Asia.
He is the recipient of the prestigious Peabody Award (2008) and the Benjamin Franklin Medal given by the Royal Society of the Arts in London (2008).
His book, Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative (Wiley-Capstone) is described by Director magazine as “a truly mind opening analysis of why we don’t get the best out of people at a time of punishing change.” John Cleese said, “Ken Robinson writes brilliantly about the different ways in which creativity is undervalued and ignored in Western culture and especially in our educational systems.”
In 2005 he was named as one of Time/Fortune/CNN’s Principal Voices and in 2003, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the arts. His latest book The Element: A New View of Human Capacity will be released in January 2009.
The David P. Gardner Graduate Lecture in the Humanities and Fine Arts is administered by the Tanner Humanities Center in collaboration with the College of Humanities, the College of Fine Arts and the Graduate School. The Gardner Lecture was founded in the University of Utah Graduate School in honor of former President David Pierpont Gardner. The Gardner Lecture features distinguished scholars and artists from the humanities and the fine arts in alternating years.
For more information on this event as well as the other 60th Anniversary Celebration events and performances please visit www.finearts.utah.edu, or www.kingtix.com, (801) 581-7100.