Release Date:
Somerson designed this wooden "Father Child Cabinet."
Rosanne Somerson, interim provost, Rhode Island School of Design, will be honored with The Furniture Society’s Award of Distinction for lifetime achievement in the field of studio furniture at the Furniture Society’s 2012 Annual Conference at the Maine College of Art in June.
Since 1978, Somerson has maintained her own design studio where she makes furniture for exhibition and is a partner in DEZCO Furniture Design LLC, a production furniture company.
“Rosanne Somerson’s life and career have had a profound and far-reaching impact on American furniture design, which is the underlying purpose of the Award of Distinction,” said Alfred Sharp. “Her tenure at RISD and other ventures have been characterized by leadership and devotion to innovative design and education.”
The "'X' marks the spot" bed.
In addition to her current position as interim provost for the 2011-12 academic year, Somerson was interim associate provost for academic affairs from 2005 to 2007. Previously, she served as professor and head of the department of furniture design, which she helped form in 1995, and, from 1985-95, she ran the MFA graduate program in furniture design in industrial design.
Somerson’s work has been exhibited at the Museum of Decorative Arts of the Louvre, Paris, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and many other major international museums and galleries. For more information, visit www.furnituresociety.org.