ROSANNE SOMERSON

Designer, strategist and educator focused on leadership that integrates design principles into institutional oversight. Designer/practitioner directing own studio for over four decades. Expertise in Furniture Design and Design Strategy.

Experience

2022 – Present Advisory Professor, Tongji University Shanghai International College of Design and Innovation

2021 – Present Senior Advisor to Chairperson of Qatar Museums, Doha, Qatar

2021 – Present President Emerita, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI

2015 – 2021 President, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI

2013 – 2015 Interim President, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI

2012 – 2013 Provost, Rhode Island School of Design

2011 – 2012 Interim Provost, Rhode Island School of Design

2008 – 2011 Department Head/ Professor, Furniture Design Department, RISD

2005 – 2007 Interim Associate Provost for Academic Affairs, RISD

1995 – 2005 Department Head/ Professor, Furniture Design Department, RISD

2004 – 2012 Partner, Dezco Furniture Design, LLC

1992 – 2004 Program Head, Graduate Furniture Design, RISD

1985 – 2011 Faculty, Graduate Furniture Design Program, RISD

1979 – Present Owner/Furniture Designer-Builder, Rosanne Somerson Studio

1981 Instructor, Boston Architectural Center, Contemporary Furniture

1977 – 78 Teaching Fellow, Harvard University Center for Continuing Education

1977 Designer, Mark Peckham Associates

1976 – 1981 Editor & Correspondent, Fine Woodworking, Former Assistant Editor,

                       New England Correspondent, Book Series Editor

Education and Degrees

2021 Honorary Doctor of Organizational Leadership, Bryant University, Smithfield, RI

2013 Harvard Institute for Educational Management, Summer Program

1976 BFA, Rhode Island School of Design            

 Grants and Awards

1. 2021 Congressman David Cicilline’s Annual Women’s Leadership Award, “Excellence in Education”

2. 2019 Pell Award for Outstanding Leadership in the Arts, Providence, RI

3. Rhode Island Distinguished Women in Higher Education, International Women’s Day, State House, Providence, RI

4. 2017 DesignxRI, RI Design Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award

4. 2012 Award of Distinction - Lifetime Achievement Award,The Furniture Society 

5. 2009 Named Fellow, American Craft Council, New York, NY

6. 2002 National Distinguished Educator Award, James Renwick Alliance, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC

7. 1974 Scholarship, Edinburgh Arts '74, Completed Traditional Coopering Apprenticeship, Markinch Distillery, Scotland

Podcasts

1. 2021 “Transformation through Education,”inVision Design Better podcast, 53

2.“Creativity + Career: Designing Opportunities,”Clever Podcast, Ep. 147

3.“Living a Creative Life,”Monocle, On Design podcast 482

4. 2020 “Design in Dialogue #31,”Conversation with Glenn Adamson, hosted by Friedman Benda

5.“The Design of Business | The Business of Design,”Design Observer podcast S8E10

6.“Learning During a Pandemic,”WantedDesign Manhattan Conversation Series 2020 andClever podcast, Ep. 123

7.“Cultivating Perceptive Voices of the Future,”At a Distance podcast with Spencer Bailey, Ep. 21

8.“Creativity is Core”LIVE from RISD + DesignxRI,” Clever podcast, Ep. 107

9.“Scratching the Surface,”Josh Owen design podcast, Ep. 144

10. 2019 “The Realities Facing Art Schools Today: A Conversation with RISD President Rosanne Somerson,”Hyperallergic , Art Movements podcast, Ep. 43

11.“Conversations on Transformation and Creativity,”ArtCenter, Change Lab with Lorne Buchman

Selected Lectures, Workshops, and Related Events

1. 2022 Juror, Frontier Design Prize (FDP), Shanghai China

2. 2022 Juror, Fine Furnishings Exhibition, Providence, RI

3. 2021 Moderator: “Figures of Speech”, panel with Virgil Abloh and Samir Sandal, “Qatar Creates”, The National Museum of Qatar, Doha

“In Their Words: Conversation with Award of Distinction Recipients,”

The Furniture Society

Juror: IFI Gap Award Prize & Design Journalism Awards (IFI DJA)

International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers

4. 2020 "Conversations on the Brave New World of Design: Educational Transformations – Innovative Distance Learning,” Design Milk IGTV 

Moderator: “Shifting Art + Design Practices During Times of Crisis,”

Design Pavilion – Design Talks Now

Panelist, IFI Design 2050 Technology – Design Education Congress, Dubai

Juror, CODAawards, honoring individuals and teams whose collective imaginations create the public and private spaces that inspire us every day: Artists, Designers, Architects, Public Art Administrators, Art Consultants, Industry Resources, Technologists, Cross-Disciplinary Creators, Landscape Architects

Master Juror, Dezeen Awards 2020 encompassing 36 project categories in total, spanning architecture, interiors and design,

plus awards to recognize the best studios and emerging architects and designers from around the world

5. 2019 Panelist, "Design without borders: The implications of a global industry" Web Summit | Lisbon, Portugal

“The Legacy of Bauahus,” Conversation with Murray Moss,

The Glass House, New Canaan, CT

“Design Meets Artificial Intelligence,” Design Nonfiction,

Tellart Video Series

Panelist, “Spotting Originals,” Maison + Objet, Paris, France

"A Closer Look: Objects USA at 50," Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC

Panelist, “Design Discussion: The Impact of Instagram,” Maison + Objet, New York

Juror, Maison + Objet Rising Talent Awards

Panelist, “From the Art School to the Art World: Preparing a New Generation of Artists, Designers and Art Professionals for the Future,” Opening, National Museum of Qatar, Doha, Qatar

Panelist, “Keeping Pace with Change: Innovation in Design & Delivery,” Brown University 10th Annual International Reinventing Higher Education Conference, Providence, RI

6. 2018 Panelist, Symposium on Cultural Entrepreneurship Conference,

New York Foundation for the Arts

Panelist, Brainstorm Design, Singapore

7. 2017 Panelist, “The Art of Effective Leadership,” NASAD Conference,

Atlanta, GA

Panelist, "Crafting Technology: Handmade and Machine-made in Design Today”, WantedDesign, New York, NY

Keynote Speaker, “The Role of Craft in Contemporary Practice,” Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA

 Moderator, “Theoretically Speaking with Virgil Abloh”, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI

Panelist, “Building Creative Imagination”, G5A, Mumbai, India

8. 2016 Keynote Speaker, “Newport & the Arts”, Newport Chamber of Commerce, Newport, RI

Panelist, “Youth Culture + The Next Generation in Design”,

Design Miami, Miami, FL

Panelist, “Surface”, Art Basel Miami, Miami, FL

Panelist, “Frank Talk: The Arts in the Twenty-first Century or Do the Hierarchies Still Exist?”, SOFA Chicago, Chicago, IL

Panelist, “Apprenticeship & Education”, American Craft Council Conference, Omaha, NE

Presenter, “TNP 16: Norman Lear Introduction + Award”, TNP,

Nantucket, MA

Presenter, “Cities Summit”, TNP, Nantucket, MA

Panelist, “Distinctive Company”, The Furniture Society,

Philadelphia, PA

Keynote Speaker, “Wheeler Commencement”, Seekonk, MA

Panelist, “Dwell on Design”, Artbeam, New York, NY

Panelist, “Discovery + Creativity in Teaching + Learning”, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

Presenter, “Guggenheim & Ho Family Foundation”, Hong Kong

9. 2015 Panelist, “Should Art Schools Prepare Artists for the Artworld?”,

Art Basel Miami, Miami, FL

Panelist, “Leaders versus Technocrats: Creating the "Good Society”?”, Drucker Forum, Vienna, Austria

Keynote Speaker, “TNP5”, TNP, Nantucket, MA

Featured Session: “The Impact of Critical Making”, SxSW, Austin, TX

Keynote Speaker, “Critical Making: Making the Future”, NAEA,

New Orleans, LA

10. 2014 – 15 Selection Committee: Rhode Island Foundation Innovation Fellows

11. 2014 Moderator, “Shared Voices” with Susan Szenasy and Pradeep Sharma, Rhode Island School of Design

Keynote Speaker, “Making Critically,” Handweavers Guild of America, Providence, RI

Lecture: “Designing Into the Future” Fuller Craft Museum,

Brockton, MA

Juror: Doodle for Google, San Francisco, CA

Juror: SxSW Advisory Board

12. 2013 Keynote Speaker, “Practice Makes Practice”, IYRS, Newport, RI

13.2011 Juror: China Greater Furniture Design Competition

Juror: AHEC Design Competition, Mexico City, Mexico

Lecturer: Contemporary Design, Universidad PanAmericana, 

Mexico City 

Lecturer: Contemporary Design, Universidad Nacional Autonama

de Mexico 

Contemporary Furniture: Who's In the Studio? Panelist, Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA

14. 2011 Panelist/ Presenter: “Design Shaping the World and the World Shaping Us,” Haystack Mountain School, Deer Isle, ME

15. 2010 Lecture: “Young Contemporary Design” Israel Museum, 

Jerusalem, Israel

Juror “Modern Painters- Re:Vision Design Awards”,

international competition 

Juror for Hoi Mai Furniture Design Competition 2010, Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam

Juror for Re: Vision, Modern Painters

Contemporary Design and Designers, for AHEC, 

Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam

American Hardwoods: Beauty and Uses, for AHEC, Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam 

16. 2009 Invited Salon Participant, “Uncommonly Good Materials”, Windgate Artist-in Residency Salon, Purchase College SUNY, Purchase, NY

Sam Maloof Tribute, SOFA Chicago

Design and Industry: Singapore, Lead Roundtable sponsored by Singapore Council of Industry and Furniture and AHEC 

17. 2008 Juror, Hoa Mai Furniture Design Competition,

Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam

Keynote Speaker, "American Hardwoods, Beauty and Uses”, Vietnam International Furniture Fair, Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam

Keynote Speaker, “Honorary Lecture Professor Rosanne Somerson,”

10th International Furniture Design Conference, Seoul, Korea

Juror, GaGu Design Competition, Seoul, Korea

Guest Lecturer, Hongik University, Seoul, Korea

18. 2007 Keynote Speaker, “US Hardwoods – Living Comfort", 12th Southeast Asia & Greater China Convention, Hangzhou, China

Summer Workshop, “Voices and Values”, Haystack Mountain School,

Deer Isle, ME

19. 2006-2008 Chair/ Consultant, Council of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, State of Israel, Chaired the Assessment Committee for Review of Top Four Major Industrial Design Programs

20. 2006 Panelist, “Shaping the Future of Craft”, 2006 National Leadership Conference, Houston, TX 

Visiting Artist, Bezalel Academy of Art & Design, Dept. of Industrial Design, Jerusalem, Israel 

21. 2005 Juror, Westport Arts Council, “Benchmark-Designing the Village”

Juror, Joined & Woven: 7th Annual Fidelity Investments Juried Exhibition, Providence Art Club

Juror, ID Magazine Annual Design Review, International Competition, Furniture Award Presenter, Niche Student Awards, Philadelphia, PA

Moderator, Alternative Outcomes, Furniture Society Conference, San Diego, CA

22. 2005 Panelist, The Art of Criticism, Success by Design Conference, Center for Design & Business, Providence, RI

Artist Talk, The Art Gallery of South Australia 

Visiting Artist, JamFactory Center for Crafts, Adelaide, Australia 

23. 2004 Juror, Distinguished Chairs, National Invitational, www.PostPicasso.com

Lecturer, Rosanne Somerson, New York Yacht Club, Newport, RI

Lecturer, Rosanne Somerson, University of Tasmania,

Hobart, Australia

24. 2003 Visiting Artist & Lecturer, University of Kansas, Manhattan, KS

Educational Consultancy, Two-Session Panel for American Craft Council, New York, NY

25. 2002 Awards Presenter for Tage Frid, Award of Distinction Program, Furniture Society Conference, Tempe, AZ

Juror, Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Grants Panel, 

Boston, MA

Panelist, Art, Craft & Design, Museum of Art, RISD, Providence, RI

Juror, Fine Furnishings Providence Show, Providence, RI

26. 2001 Advanced Furniture Design Studio Workshop, Anderson Ranch, 

Snowmass Village, CO

27. 2000 Juror, Design Emphasis 2000 [National Competition], Atlanta, GA 

Lecturer, Virginia Lynch Retrospective Dinner, RI Foundation

Lecturer, Wexler Gallery Artist Talks, Philadelphia, PA

Visiting Artist, Herron College of Art, Indianapolis, IN

Lecturer, Ball State University, Muncie, IN

Panelist, Critical Discourse, Furniture Society Conference, 

Toronto, Canada

Panelist, Gendered Joints, Furniture Society conference,

Toronto, Canada

Studio Host, Collector’s Tour, Society of Arts & Crafts Tour

Selected Exhibitions

2022-2023 “Scandinavian Design and the United States,” LACMA October 2022-February 2023, Milwaukee Art Museum March-July 2023

2022 “Coming Full Circle”, Dedee Shattuck Gallery, Westport, MA

2020 “Shelter, Place, Social, Distance: Contemporary Dialogues from the Permanent Collection”, Accordion Table (1984), Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA

2019 “Making a Seat at the Table: Women Transforming Woodworking,” Center for Art in Wood, Philadelphia, PA

2018 Tongji University College of Design + Innovation, jewelry box on display as part of Design Shanghai 2018

2016 Modern Treasure Chests, McTeigue + McClelland,Great Barrington, MA

2002 Contemporary Studio Case Furniture: The Inside Story [Catalogue], The Elvehjem Museum of Art, Madison WI

2001   Women Designers in the USA, 1900-2000: [Catalogue] Diversity & Difference, Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, New York, NY

2000 Women in Furniture, Leo Kaplan Modern, New York, NY

Studio Furniture Fine Art Invitational, Memphis College of Art, Memphis, TN

Advisory Boards and Board of Trustees

2020 World Design Academy Alliance, a founding member

2020 State of Rhode Island, Governor’s New Normal Advisory Group

2020 President, Association of Independent Colleges of Art + Design (AICAD), Providence, RI

2019 Vice President, Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Rhode Island (AICU), Providence, RI

2017 – 2020 Commission on Higher Education & Employability, Providence, RI

2016 – 2020 Rhode Island Commodores, Providence, RI

2013 – 2021 Board of Trustees, Haystack Mountain School, Deer Isle, ME

Selected Publications

1. 2021 At a Distance: 100 Visionaries at Home in a Pandemic, by Spencer Bailey and Andrew Zuckerman, Apartemento Press

2. 2021 “Make to Know: From spaces of uncertainty to creative discovery”, Lorne M. Buchman, Thames and Hudson

“Outgoing RISD President on the Past, Present, and Future of Design Education: The furniture designer and academic speaks to AD PRO on the eve of a new chapter,” Architectural Digest AD PRO, May 24

“Change for Good,” Monocle, March 

3. 2020 “How Designers are Visualizing America’s Failure to Cope with COVID-19,” Fortune, July 7

“Responding to Activism, RISD is Hiring Faculty, Boosting Diversity, Returning Looted Artifacts: It’s one of the most comprehensive attempts by a US college to address racial diversity and equity,” Boston Globe, July 21

“Opening the Doors of Design,” The New York Times,

September 29

4. 2019 “Creative Process – Global,” Monocle, May

5. 2018 Modern Americana: Studio Furniture from High Craft to High Glam, Expanded Edition, by Todd Merrill (Rizzoli)

“If You Don’t Embrace Design as a CEO, You Risk Becoming a Dinosaur,” Fortune, March 7

“The RISD View on Design Education Today: Adaptive, Collaborative, Rigorous,” INDESIGNLIVE.SG, March 23

International Channel Shanghai (ICS), “All About Going Abroad,”

April 17 

6. 2017 “A Multi-disciplinary Art Exhibition by RISD Alumni Comes to Mumbai,” Architecture Digest, February 12

“16 Women Pushing Design Forward in the United States,”

Artsy, March 9

“A Survey of Academies and Art Schools Today: Training Practices and Studies,” Kunstforum International, March/April 

“Q + A: Rosanne Somerson,” ODDA, Spring/Summer

7. “The RISD Connection”, Cultured, December 12 

“Design Dialogues No. 32”, Surface, December 1

“Make/Time” Podcast, craftschools.us, December 

“Master Artists Reimagine Modern Jewelry Boxes”,

Rural Intelligence, August 12 

“Local Interviews: Rosanne Somerson”, Wildsam Field Guide: New England, Summer 

“Bok Center Celebrates 40 Years”, Harvard Gazette, May 6 

“Expert Opinion: We Need More Boredom in Our Lives”,

Metropolis, May 

“Expert Opinion: We Need More Boredom in Our Lives”, Dwell, May 

“People: RISD President Rosanne Somerson on Technology, Design”, Chosun News-Press, March 27 

8. 2015 “Famed Designer Rosanne Somerson on Innovation and Failure”, WIRED, October 31 

“International Partnership Offers New Opportunities”,

Korea Times, October 27

“At RISD, an Artisan Who’s Now President”, HUFFPOST, February 26

“Interview: Rosanne Somerson Becomes President of RISD”, Disegno, February 25

“It’s Empty at the Top”, The New York Times, February 12

8. 2014 “RISD Conference Focuses on Transforming RI Economy”, Bloomberg Businessweek, September 30

 “Art and Design Education Gives Students Competitive Edge”,

USA Today, September 19

 “Art Offers Manufacturing Fresh Perspectives”, Financial Times, June 18

 9. 2013 Co-Editor, The Art of Critical Making: Rhode Island School of Design on Creative Practice, Korean Edition, John Wiley & Sons

Co-Editor, The Art of Critical Making: Rhode Island School of Design on Creative Practice, John Wiley & Sons

“The Art of Critical Making: An Introduction”, The Art of Critical Making: Rhode Island School of Design on Creative Practice Ed. John Wiley & Sons. p. 19

“Design is a Critical Element to Manufacturing Innovation”, Providence Business News, October 14

10. 2010 “Aileen Osborn Webb Awards- Fellow, Rosanne Somerson”, American Craft vol. 69, No. 6 Dec.09/Jan10 p.57

Makers: A History of American Studio Craft by Janet Koplos, Bruce Metcalf, Univ of NC Press

Private and Corporate Collections

Peter T. Joseph & Wendy Evans Joseph, New York, NY

Anne & Ronald D. Abramson, Rockville, MD

Virginia & Andrew Lewis, Richmond, VA

Bernice Wollman & Warren Rubin, New York, NY

Bebe & Warren Johnson, East Hampton, NY

Ruth & Rick Snyderman, Philadelphia, PA

Dr. Eli & Judith Lippman, Baltimore, MD

Al Waxman & Paula Levine, New York, NY

Edward C. Johnson, Boston, MA

Robert & Gayle Greenhill, Greenwich, CT

Kohn, Penderson, Fox & Conway, New York, NY

Stephen & Susan Paine, Boston, MA

Sue Rattner & Gary Malakoff, Great Falls, VA

The Wellington Corporation, Boston, MA

Stephen & Jane Lorch

William & Ann Ziff, Pawling, NY

Museum Collections

Renwick Collection, National Museum of American Art, Washington, DC, [2 pieces]

Brockton Art Museum, Fuller Memorial, Brockton, MA

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT

Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI

Huntsville Museum of Art, Huntsville, AL

Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA

Connection

SOMERSON Studio

Westport, MA USA

rs@rsomerson.com