Higgins, Jacobs scenic artist, retires after 40 years of design

After more than 150 productions and more than 40 years of working as a master scenic artist at the Jacobs School of Music, C. David Higgins has retired.

Higgins lived his entire life within a few miles of campus, starting his life and ending his career in Bloomington.

After graduating from IU with a master’s degree in theatrical studies, he began work for the IU Opera Theater. It was there, he has said, he discovered his love for scenic design. Higgins has worked as master scenic artist since the Musical Arts Center opened in 1971.

Although his work has originated in Bloomington, it has been used as rentals in theaters throughout the world.

In 1976, Higgins was appointed to the Jacobs School faculty and worked his way up to his most recent position: chair of the Opera Studies Department and principal designer for the Opera Theater.

“We have been very fortunate to put on stage productions that are much more sophisticated than the average collegiate production would be,” Higgins said prior to his retirement. “It’s a big job, and we’ve never missed a production. I think that’s a real tribute to all the people working in the school.”

Higgins said there is no other school in the nation emphasizes opera like IU.

“The Jacobs School of Music is forever grateful to David Higgins for four decades of unsurpassed artistry,” Jacobs Dean Gwyn Richards said.

Richards said students, faculty and staff will benefit from Higgins’ contributions for many years.

To celebrate Higgins’ career, the Jacobs School of Music has published a book in his name: “C. David Higgins: Tribute to a Master.”

The 40-page book of images and biography was written by Marianne Williams Tobias, musicologist with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and Timothy Stebbins, director of production for IU’s Opera and Ballet Theater.

Tobias said Stebbins, who has worked with Higgins for 20 years, was a great resource for the book.

“(Higgins’) work was a major factor in building the school’s reputation for producing world-class opera and ballet,” Tobias and Stebbins wrote in the description for the book. “Higgins instilled a sense of romantic realism in his set design, which has been described as daring, imaginative and magical spectacle.”

The book will be available for purchase at the Marketplace in the Music Practice Building.

“There is something very tender and fragile when dealing with someone’s life,” Tobias said in a press release. “David is someone who has followed his standards consistently, and that can’t be said about many people. His story would fill
an encyclopedia.”