The Joseph and Loretta Law Institute of Arts and Technology plans to make the most current breakthroughs in artistic technology accessible to students and the public through seminars, workshops, visiting fellows and scholars, performances and education. Photo courtesy of Dennis Law
A $20 million gift from Denver arts supporter and former surgeon Dennis Law and his mother, Loretta Law, will fund the creation of the new Joseph and Loretta Law Institute of Arts and Technology at DU. The gift includes seed capital and long-term funding that will make the University of Denver the home for artistic creation that spans and incorporates global cultures and genres, further cementing the University as a global cultural center in a fast-growing city with a thriving arts scene.
In addition, the Law family has entrusted the University to house a collection of art from its collections in the United States and Hong Kong that will add incredible diversity to the University’s art and special collections.
Scheduled to launch in February, the institute — named for Dennis Law’s parents — plans to make the most current breakthroughs in artistic technology accessible to students and the public through seminars, workshops, visiting fellows and scholars, performances and education.
It also will establish the Denver International Electronic Music Festival, an annual multicultural event that will showcase the innovative artistic creations made possible by combining contemporary music technology and artistic skill. The inaugural festival will take place Feb. 15–18 at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts.
“The Joseph and Loretta Law Institute creatively advances the University of Denver’s vision as a global anchor institution dedicated to scholarship, creative endeavors, research and the public good,” says Chancellor Rebecca Chopp. “The Law family’s generosity inspires our community to expand our innovation and imagination on an international scale.”
Raised in Hong Kong, Dennis Law is the creator and producer of several large-scale Chinese action musicals — including “Terracotta Warriors,” “Tang Concubines” and “Monkey King”— that have been performed nearly a thousand times in major venues in many cities in North America and China.
Law’s latest production, “Ode to Nature,” premiered in 2016 at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts in collaboration with DU’s Lamont School of Music.