Distinguished Graduate 2021: Curtis E. Jewell honored in Arts & Humanities for achievements in film-making.

Curtis E. Jewell, a 1999 graduate, is the 2021 Distinguished Graduate in Arts & Humanities. During the ceremony on November 23, he was accompanied by his wife, mother, and father. In addition to being a lawyer, He co produced, Forte, Maestro, and more.

Jewell participated in many activities throughout high school. Most notably, he was SGA president his senior year, started in all 10 football games on the offensive line senior year, and was Co-Editor of The Lance. At graduation, he was a valedictorian and was the recipient of the English Department prize. 

Jewell believes Linganore was a key factor in his success. “Really wonderful folks are at this school, strong community. I think it teaches you the ability of believing in yourself and hard work,” said Jewell. 

After graduating from Washington University, he went on to University of Pennsylvania for Law School. Once law school was over, he went on a long and successful legal career to this day. Jewell is currently a lawyer at Colfax’s largest business platform, ESAB.

Jewell’s passion is music and the arts. Jewell produced his first film with a college friend, Maestro. Jewell has helped produce several feature films including Forte and Nordic Pulse, which are documentaries about classical music with international scope and distribution. 

Jewell gave a little insight to his next documentary. The documentary is called, Detox and will go behind the scenes behind the first and only technology addiction center in the United States, located in Seattle, Washington.

Jewell is a co-founder of CultureNet, a platform that focuses on high-quality arts and cultural content. The company’s goal is “to bring the arts into more homes and schools in engaging and impactful ways that further their mission of inspiring a paradigm shift in our collective cultural consciousness that encourages values, critical thinking, and innovation.”

Jewell said, “Try to challenge yourself and do things that make yourself uncomfortable, using that to build empathy in the world we live in is a critical skill set to have. It is just as important as education.”

After 22 years, Jewell toured the school and was shocked by how much the building had changed since his high school days. Class of ’22 president, Matthew Coffey and senior Emma Jaffe, accompanied Jewell throughout his tour.

During the third block, Jewell visited the journalism classroom. As a past editor for The Lance, Jewell was able to truly connect with the students. He discussed the importance of journalism in today’s society.  Saying, “keep it real and have vetted information.” He also compared and gave a little insight on what journalism used to be. 

“We didn’t have computers and video like you guys did today. We had to write everything down and then print it out to share with the school,” said Jewell.