Rosanne Somerson

Education and early career

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she began her undergraduate degree at Rhode Island School of Design in photography, but switched her focus, and received her BFA in Industrial Design in 1976. After graduation, Somerson worked as a correspondent for Fine Woodworking magazine. She also assisted with former professor and mentor Tage Frid's three-part book series "Tage Frid Teaches Woodworking" (Taunton Press).

Academic career

She taught with the Harvard Extension School from 1977 to 1978, and joined the RISD faculty in 1985. From 1985 to 1995 she ran the MFA Graduate Program in Furniture Design in the Industrial Design department. In 1995, Somerson led{{How}date=February 2017}} the creation of the Furniture Design department, heading it from 1995 to 2005, and from 2008 to 2011. She served as RISD's interim associate provost for Academic Affairs from 2005 to 2007, as interim provost from 2011 to 2012, as provost from 2012 to 2013 and as interim president from 2014 to 2015. The RISD Board of Trustees appointed her the college's 17th president in February 18, 2015. Somerson is the co-editor of The Art of Critical Making: Rhode Island School of Design on Creative Practice.

RISD residency

After being appointed president in February 2015, Someson appointed Pradeep Sharma to be provost. Somerson's first speaking engagements as president came in the spring at the National Art Education Association Annual Convention and at South By Southwest EDU, where she discussed the impact of critical making. In April, 44 technicians at the college went on strike, but the three-day job action concluded with the ratification of their contract. In May, the work of Apparel Design seniors was showcased in New York City for the first time at RISD Backstudio. Somerson’s first semester as president concluded with filmmaker John Waters delivering the college’s commencement address. His remarks went viral and have turned into a book.

In the fall of 2015, Somerson spoke at the Nantucket Project, the Drucker Forum in Vienna and Art Basel Miami Beach.^[11] The three-year renovation of RISD’s Illustration’s Studies building was completed^[12] and an opening ceremony was held as part of the college’s annual parent and alumni weekend.^[13] RISD officially invested Somerson as its seventeenth president in October 2015.

Professional practice

She has maintained a professional studio practice, Rosanne Somerson Furniture, since 1979 designing and building furniture for exhibition and by commission. Her current studio is located in Fall River, Massachusetts within Smokestack Studios. Somerson is known primarily for one-of-a-kind and custom work, but is also a partner in DEZCO, LLC, a small-scale production furniture company which focuses on environmentally-responsible and design-conscious production furniture.

Museum collections

Smithsonian American Art Museum; Renwick Collection, National Museum of American Art, Washington, DC; Brockton Art Museum, Fuller Memorial (Brockton, MA); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Yale University Art Gallery; RISD Museum, Rhode Island School of Design; Huntsville Museum of Art, Huntsville, AL; and Smith College Museum of Art.

Books