DSU President's Colleagues Meeting

Dixie State University will host its sixth President’s Colleagues of DSU meeting of the 2014-15 academic year on Monday, March 2, featuring a presentation by longtime DSU art professor Glen Blakley. 

Following the presentation, Blakley will guide a tour of the 28^th-Annual Sears Dixie Invitational Art Show, which is currently on exhibit in the Sears Art Museum Gallery. 

Blakley will draw from his nearly 40 years as an art educator in addressing the topic, “Why Art, and Why is it Important.” Since his arrival on the Dixie State campus in 1976, Blakley has worked to bring art experiences to the institution, the St. George community, and the state of Utah. He helped establish the St. George Art Museum, for which he was its first director for six years, and was the first director of the St. George Arts Festival in 1979. In addition, Blakley served on the Dixie Task Force, St. George Arts Commission, Southwest Utah Arts Council, St. George Film Commission, the Utah Arts Council Advisory Board, and was the director of the St. George Art Museum.  

Blakley completed his Master’s of Fine Arts Degree at Brigham Young University in 1973. Prior to his tenure at DSU, he taught art at Oregon City (OR) High School and at BYU. He has directed travel-study programs at DSU to art museums in the western United States and Europe for more than 30 years, and has taken more than 19,000 on tours to Los Angeles-area museums alone. 

In 2013, Blakley was presented with the “Certificate of Appreciation and Gratitude” honor by the National K-12 Ceramic Exhibition Foundation for his support of education in the ceramic arts. 

The President’s Colleagues of Dixie State University, established more than 20 years ago by former DSU President Dr. Douglas Alder, is a group of retired professors and other professionals who live mostly in the St. George and Washington County area. Dr. Alder, who also started an Honors Program at DSU, organized the Colleagues as a way to increase academic activities on campus.

The Colleagues meet together once a month during the academic year to hear presentations from each other and/or invited guests. The April Colleagues meeting will spotlight the life and legacy of President Theodore Roosevelt, with a presentation by DSU colleague Ben Mahaffey on Monday, April 6.