Keith Jacobshagen earned a BFA in design from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1965. He began working as a greeting card designer, but soon decided to return to school. In 1968, he completed an MFA in design at the University of Kansas and accepted a teaching position at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, where he continues to teach today.

Jacobshagen creates striking, dramatic images of the midwestern landscape. His work is represented in the collections of several museums, including the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery in Lincoln, Nebraska, the Museum of Art at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, the University of Kansas Museum of Art, and the Oakland Museum in California.