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Colorado Mesa University Performing Arts records

 Collection
Identifier: CMU-UA-022

Contents

The collection includes production ephemera (including newspaper clippings, playbills, programs, and ticket stubs), photographs, posters, and correspondence dating back to as early as 1929.

Dates

  • Creation: 1929-2024

Access to the collection

Open for research in Tomlinson Library Special Collections and Archives. Please make an appointment at archives@coloradomesa.edu to ensure staff availability.

Use of material in the collection

It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Colorado Mesa University, Tomlinson Library, its administrators, employees, and agents from and against all claims made by any person asserting that they are an owner of copyright.

Historical Note

Within the first few years of Grand Junction Junior College's establishment in 1925, the students decided to form clubs to incorporate the performing arts into their education at the college. Performances of plays and musical concerts were held at local theatres and churches from as early as 1927, and the first band formed in 1928 under the direction of Carl Hillyer. The college didn't have its own performance venue until the construction and opening of what is now Houston Hall on the new campus in 1940. A stage formed part of the main auditorium that also was used for basketball games and an orchestra room was one of the classrooms in the building. The first purpose-built theater was constructed as part of the Walter Walker Fine Arts Center in 1969 with the theatre itself later named for William S. Robinson who brought drama and theatre from a club activity at the college to an academic discipline with year-round performances. The building was later renovated and expanded into the Moss Performing Arts Center to include a recital hall, experimental black-box theatre, and dance studio. The most recent evolution of venues for the performing arts at Colorado Mesa University is the new Asteria Theatre that opened in September 2024.

Extent

18 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Summary

Photographs, playbills, programs, posters, newspaper clippings, correspondence and other records related to the performing arts at Colorado Mesa University from 1929 onward.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged by the type of performing art (theatre, music, dance), then by type of material, and then chronologically. The exception is correspondence which may represent one or all of the various performing arts areas.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Material was transferred or collected by various facult and staff at Colorado Mesa University over the years.

Separated Materials

Duplicates have been removed from the collection.

Title
Guide to the Colorado Mesa University Performing Arts records
Status
In Progress
Author
Izzy Lawson and Amber J. D'Ambrosio
Date
2024 August 20
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Tomlinson Library Special Collections & Archives Repository

Contact:
1100 North Avenue
Tomlinson Library
Grand Junction CO 81504 United States