Rosanne Somerson

Rosanne Somerson is a designer, professor and academic leader who has advanced art and design for decades. She is Rhode Island School of Design President Emerita and maintains a successful studio creative practice, designing and creating furniture for exhibitions and commissions. Somerson is an author and subject of many podcasts, frequently advocating for the power of creativity and making as core elements of critical thinking and development. Her works have been prominently featured in many...See more

Rosanne Somerson is a designer, professor and academic leader who has advanced art and design for decades. She is Rhode Island School of Design President Emerita and maintains a successful studio creative practice, designing and creating furniture for exhibitions and commissions. Somerson is an author and subject of many podcasts, frequently advocating for the power of creativity and making as core elements of critical thinking and development. Her works have been prominently featured in many publications, exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the globe, and represented in private, corporate and museum collections. She has received many honours including two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the James Renwick Alliance Distinguished Crafts Educator Award, a Pell Award for Outstanding Leadership in the Arts, and a Lifetime Achievement Award of Distinction from the Furniture Society. See less