The meaning and power of preserving the objects that reflect our shared cultural heritage is the topic Lonnie G. Bunch III, the 14th Secretary of the Smithsonian, will address as the special guest speaker of this year’s Paul R. Jones lecture on Monday, April 29, at 4 p.m. in Gore Recital Hall at the Roselle Center for the Arts.

Secretary Bunch oversees 21 museums, 21 libraries, the National Zoo, numerous research centers and several education units and centers. He has first-hand experience with objects that are so much more than just objects — from the stories of those who donated their collections to help found the National Museum of African American History and Culture, to the discovery of an image of his own grandmother as a young woman about to journey north to a new life.

Two UD community members will join Secretary Bunch for the discussion, which is hosted by the Department of Art Conservation and the Interdisciplinary Humanities Research Center. Alumna Shannon Brogdon-Grantham is the photograph and paper conservator at the Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute, and doctoral student LaStarsha McGarity is conservator and co-director of the Legacy Museum at Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, Alabama.

Funded by the College of Arts and Sciences, the Paul R. Jones Annual Lecture underscores the significance of Black arts to humanistic studies and showcases individuals whose contributions to the field are exemplary, interdisciplinary and inspiring. The event honors art collector Paul R. Jones and his gift of African American art to UD.

Registration is required.