Episode 15 • David Jacobsen: Transforming Communal Spaces into Vibrant Cultural Centers through Art.
In this episode David Jacobsen shares his unique quest, and commitment, of bringing independent artists, storytellers and creatives into communal spaces.
David and I co-curated, via Civic Entertainment Group, and my company, Tucker Contemporary Art, the inaugural exhibition and launch of his Civic Art Program with “World Beyond City Box”, featuring New Jersey–based artist Dominant Dansby. Inspired by jazz and its exchange of energy, Dansby’s work offered a cartographic meditation on cities and urban communities.
Through exhibitions, acquisitions, artist commissions, and creative partnerships, the Civic Art program will bring independent artists, storytellers, and creatives into the spaces where the community gathers, creates, collaborates, and learns.
David is an executive leader at Civic Entertainment Group and serves as SVP, Head of Production and Partner Relations. His expertise in creating unforgettable experiences that brings award-winning content to life through experiential and creative media. CIVIC is an independent experiential and community-first marketing agency co-founded by Stuart Ruderfer and Nate Schreiber. The agency partners with leading brands to build genuine community through human-centered experiences, grounded in the belief that the most enduring brand relationships are built in person and from the inside out. Their client’s include Ford Motor Company, Audible, Wyndham Hotels, HBO Max, and Columbia University.
David is bilingual in Spanish and English and holds a BA in Political Theory & Gender Studies from the University of New Hampshire and a Master in the Study of the Americas from City College. As an audiophile with a passion for classical performance, he has contributed reviews to the American Record Guide, the country's oldest classical music publication.
The images that accompany this podcast can be seen by visiting the website: whatsnewarkgottodowithit.com This interview took place on September 23, 2026.
The Civic Commons: Dominant Dansby’s “World Beyond City Box” Exhibition. Photos By: Timothy Vassallo
David and I curated the inaugural show in The Civic Commons, “World Beyond City Box,” a solo show featuring the works of Dominant Dansby.
Stuart Ruderfer, co-CEO of Civic and patron of the Civic Art program, talks to Dominant about his work.
Dominant and guests contemplate his work in The Commons, the light-filled exhibition space at 436 Lafayette.
Dominant Dansby’s “World Beyond City Box,” both the title of this work and inaugural show at Civic, co-curated by myself and David, and currently on loan to the agency.
Civic Permanent Collection
An explosion of color - ranging from emerging to established artists, the collection includes artists like Ryan Crotty, Beverly Fishman, James Benjamin Franklin, Paul Vinet, Jason Burgess, and Bernard Buhmann. Most recently, turning to more experimental works by Edra Soto and Cesar Lopez.
Ryan Crotty, “Exit Strategy” (2025) Website
James Benjamin Franklin, “Comp” (2023) Website
Bernard Buhmann, “Red Baron” (2020) Website
David’s Personal Collection
As David mentioned in his interview, his collection is a bit more personal. Every time he and his husband, Justin, would travel, they would make a point of buying an original artwork to mark the occasion of their trip. But their first major piece, came as a gift from his husband, Justin, for David's 30th birthday; by the Colombian artist Elektra KB, it is a textile (protest sign) where she writes “you are so much more than your trauma." David tells me, “Elektra’s piece started a collection that will remind me how far you can go when you decide to accept love in the face of trauma. We hope to build a collection of bold works that explore innovative ways to work through trauma and help us heal."
Elektra KB, “Protest Sign VI” (2016) Website
Another favorite is “Style” by Paul Vinet. Paul has become one of David’s good friends and mentors. As an artist and art advisor, Paul has been instrumental in starting to build Civic’s collection. You can learn more about CROPP, his art advisory firm, here. In this piece, Vinet empties out his father’s attic after his death and creates collages of memories with items he finds (shirt collars, coins, souvenirs from travel, etc.) and imposes them on gold leaf, making these everyday items, often forgotten ephemera of a person’s life into an inmortal still life. For David, who lost his very stylish and cool dad in his early 20s, this piece spoke to him immediately.
Paul Vinet, “Style” (2015) Website
Looking forward to the most recent pieces he has collected, David’s Colombian identity is starting to focus the collection on Colombian artists. “Caída” or “Fall” is a diptych by Felipe Lozano that he painted following his father’s sudden death. In this case, it was the sudden aspect (like David’s father) of the death that really drew him in. More layered, Lozano was his own model, the body bag (which Lozano also modeled) was the last scene he saw of his father, when he was taken out of the hospital. For David, Lozano’s focused study is very telling of how Latin Americans deal with death. How seeing the body (even if it is hidden to us) is so grounded in the Catholic tradition of mourning and coming to terms with finitude. The work is oil on linen canvas.
Felipe Lozano, “Caída” (2017) Location: Artist’s studio in Bogotá Website
Geometric abstraction was a major movement in South America during the 20th century. And its legacy continues to take hold in contemporary art. For David, no one is doing this better than Rodrigo Echeverri, who in this latest work takes the tradition from the museum walls and literally brings it down to earth. In his latest series, the sculptural pieces are made in terrazzo. The design language is one that brings you back to grandma’s house, where the material was abundant in most homes and public buildings in Colombia. For David, taking the discourse of geometric abstraction that has been so highly sterilized by museums, institutions, and collectors, and embedding it (literally and figuratively) in the floor “opens a portal that makes you think of not only your mortality but the mortality of the great artistic traditions that make us Colombians.”
Rodrigo Echeverri, “Construcción 06” (2025) Website
“Construcción 06” will be installed by the artist in David’s home in Forest Hill, Newark when he comes to New York next year.
Here is a piece from the same series, “Nacer Ruina” that was permanently installed at LGM Gallery, where the show took place earlier this year.
Rodrigo Echeverri, “Sin Título,” Nacer Ruina, (2021) LGM Gallery
Rodrigo’s studio in San Felipe, one of Bogotá’s most creative communities, where many contemporary artists have their studios and where David visited in July.