![](https://www.designersandbooks.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/portrait_large/portrait-sheila-levrant-de-bretteville.jpg)
In-Process Site-Specific Proposals
2010
...所以... Exterior and interior, Hong Kong Design Institute, Hong Kong, China
Water Writing Public Sidewalk, Hangzhou, China
...hunger for words... Obama-related public projects, Occidental College Campus, Pasadena, California
Conflict and Confluence Point State Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Sponsored by the Allegheny Conference and the Pittsburgh Arts Council
Completed Permanent Site-Specific Commissions
2006
Step(pe) New threshold for the old Water Tower, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Sponsored by CEC ArtsLink
2003
Hillhouse High School Academic entrance lobby, New Haven Connecticut. Sponsored by the City of New Haven Department of Cultural Affairs
2000
Workers Constellation: Take break... Out to lunch... Back to Work... Outdoor seating, “Lazy Susan” table, landscaping at the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training, Cranston, Rhode Island. Sponsored by the Rhode Island Department of Cultural Affairs
1999
Hear Us Mural, Massachusetts State House, Boston, Massachusetts. Sponsored by Massachusetts Council on the Humanities.
At the start... At long last... 207th Street station, A train terminus. Manhattan, New York. Sponsored by the New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority
1998
Search: Literature Library entrance stairway, Flushing, Queens, New York. Sponsored by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs
1995
Omoide noShotokyo (Memories of old Little Tokyo) Los Angeles, California. Sponsored by the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles. Path of Stars New Haven, Connecticut. Sponsored by McCormack Baron & Associates, the City of Los Angeles, and the New Haven Arts Council
1994
West End Echoes Nashua Street quadrant of Boston, Massachusetts. Sponsored by Boston’s Big Dig. Partially completed
1990
Biddy Mason: Time & Place Los Angeles, California. Sponsored by the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles
Selected Group Exhibitions
2010
“Now Dig This! Art and Black Los Angeles, 1960-1980,” Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. Curated by Kellie Jones
2007–2008
“WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution,”Geffen Contemporary at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center, New York. Curated by Connie Butler. Interview: http://www.moca.org/wack/?p=276
2000
“Design Culture Now,” Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution, New York. Curated by Ellen Lupton
“Public Art, USA,” Palace of Architects, Moscow, and Palace of Architects Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. Curated by Jennifer McGregor and Jane Lombard
1994
“The Lure of the Local,” an exhibition of public arts projects, University of Colorado Art Galleries. Curated by Lucy Lippard
1990
“Graphic Design USA,” Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, and IBM Gallery, New York. Curated by Mildred Friedman
1988
“Universal/Unique,” Rosenwald-Wolf Art Gallery, Philadelphia
1986
“Arachne & Athena: An Invitation to Dinner,” Sheinbaum Gallery, New York
1985
“At Home,” Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach California
1976
“Images of an Era: The American Poster 1945–1975,” Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston. Selected Articles Written by Sheila Levrant de Bretteville
“Night,” Sheila Levrant de Bretteville, Wang Min, and Xiaohong Shen, eds. Shanghai People's Publishing House 上海人民出版社,2007
“Omoide noShotokyo: Remembering old Little Tokyo.” In The Architecture of the Everyday, Deborah Berke and Steven Harris eds. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1997
“Feminist Design.” In Space and Society/Spazio e Societa, Julian Beinart and Giancarlo de Carlo, eds. Boston: The MIT Press, 1986
“The Parlorization of Our Homes and Ourselves.” In Chrysalis, A Magazine of Women’s Culture (Los Angeles), no. 8, 1977
“Some aspects of design from the perspective of a woman designer.” In Icographic: A Quarterly Review of International Visual Communication Design (London), no. 6, 1973.
Selected Publications Written about Sheila Levrant de Bretteville’s Work
“Art, graphisme et féminisme à Los Angeles autour Sheila Levrant de Bretteville,” by Benoît Buquet, in Histoire de l’art, no. 63, 2008
Women of Design, Influence and Inspiration from the Original Trailblazers to the New Groundbreakers, by Bryony Gomez-Palacio and Armin Vit. Cincinnati: HOW Books, 2008
WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution, Catalogue for exhibition (2007) at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and P.S. 1 MoMA, New York, Connie Butler ed. 2008 Interview re: PINK poster http://www.moca.org/wack/?p=276
Bridget “Biddy” Mason: From Slave to Businesswoman, by Jean Kinney Williams. Minneapolis: Compass Point Books, 2006
Along the Way: MTA Arts for Transit, by Sandra Bloodworth and William Ayres. New York: Monacelli Press, 2006
“US DESIGN: Sheila Levrant de Bretteville,” in kAk magazine (Russia), no. 18, 2001
Design Culture Now: The National Design Triennial, exhibition catalogue, by Donald Albrecht and Ellen Lupton. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2000
The Education of a Graphic Designer, by Steven Heller. New York: Allworth Press, 1999
“Finally, a Wall of Their Own,” by Eileen McNamara, Boston Globe, October 20, 1999.
Design beyond Design, Jan van Toorn ed. Maastricht: Jan van Eyck Akademie Editions, 1998.
Landscape Narratives, by Matthew Potteiger and Jamie Purinton, New York: John Wiley, 1998
The Lure of the Local: Senses of Place in a Multicentered Society, by Lucy R. Lippard. New York: New Press, 1997
Mapping the Terrain: New Genre Public Art, Suzanne Lacy, ed. Seattle: Bay Press, 1995
“Everybody is a Star,” Historic Preservation magazine March/April 1995
“Women in a Men’s World, Profile: Sheila Levrant de Bretteville,” Singapore Sun MEGAzine, August 17, 1994
“Taking It to the Streets,” by Mark Zaretsky, New Haven Register (CT), March 27, 1994
“Sheila Levrant de Bretteville: Dirty Design and Fuzzy Theory,” by Ellen Lupton, Eye magazine, no. 13, 1992
Women in Design, by Liz McQuiston. New York: Rizzoli, 1988
“Sheila de Bretteville: Street Signs to Eat,” by Tom Nolan, Los Angeles Magazine, March 1987
“Twenty Under Thirty,” in Step-By-Step Graphics magazine September/October, 1986
“Sheila Levrant de Bretteville,” by Dugald Stermer, Communication Arts magazine May/June 1982
“Right on, Sheila!,” by Gilles de Bure, Cree (France), 1971
Selected Awards
2009
“Grandmaster” award, New York Art Directors Club
2005
Best Public Artwork of the year, Step(pe), Americans for the Arts
2004
“Design Legend” Gold Medal, American Institute of Graphic Arts
1993
The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven Elm and Ivy Award
1993
Golden Light Awards Book of the Year, for Intimate Visions: The Photographs of Dorothy Norman
1972
Communication Arts Award, American Institute of Graphic Arts. Special IDCA ’71 issue of The Aspen Newspaper
1971
Communication Arts Award, American Institute of Graphic Arts. Special issue of Arts in Society: Prologue to a Community, 1970.
Selected Judging (awards for designers)
1970–2010
CUP (Center for Urban Pedagogy)
Cooper Hewitt National Design Awards
The Rome Prize
NEA (National Endowment for the Arts)
The 100 Show
New York Art Directors Club
AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts)
Society of Publication Designers
Degrees
1995
Honorary Doctorate, Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1991
Honorary Doctorate, California College of Arts and Crafts San Francisco, California
1964
Master of Fine Arts in graphic design, Yale University School of Art, New Haven, Connecticut
1962
Bachelor of Arts in art history, Columbia University, Barnard College, New York
Faculty Positions
1990–
Street Professor and Director of Studies in Graphic Design, Yale University School of Art, New Haven, Connecticut
1980–90
Founding Chair, Department of Design and Illustration, Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, California
1973–80
President, faculty (co-founder) the Woman’s Building, Los Angeles, California. Visiting faculty in Schools of Architecture at UC Berkeley, USC, Cal Poly Pomona
1970–73
Founding Faculty, California Institute of the Arts, School of Design, Valencia, California
Announcements
Now is Better by Stefan Sagmeister
Now is Better
By Stefan Sagmeister
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Published: October 2023
Combining art, design, history, and quantitative analysis, transforms data sets into stunning artworks that underscore his positive view of human progress, inspiring us to think about the future with much-needed hope.
Design Emergency: Building a Better Future by Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli
Design Emergency: Building a Better Future
By Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Published: May 2022
Rawsthorn and Antonelli tell the stories of the remarkable designers, architects, engineers, artists, scientists, and activists who are at the forefront of positive change worldwide. Focusing on four themes—Technology, Society, Communication, and Ecology—the authors present a unique portrait of how our great creative minds are developing new design solutions to the major challenges of our time, while helping us to benefit from advances in science and technology.
Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World’s Most Creative People by Debbie Millman
Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World's Most Creative People
By Debbie Millman
Publisher: Harper Design
Published: February 22, 2022
Debbie Millman—author, educator, brand consultant, and host of the widely successful and award-winning podcast “Design Matters”—showcases dozens of her most exciting interviews, bringing together insights and reflections from today’s leading creative minds from across diverse fields.
Milton Glaser: POP by Steven Heller, Mirko Ilić, and Beth Kleber
Milton Glaser: POP
By Steven Heller, Mirko Ilić, and Beth Kleber
Publisher: The Monacelli Press
Published: March 2023
This collection of work from graphci design legend Milton Glaser’s Pop period features hundreds of examples of the designer’s work that have not been seen since their original publication, demonstrating the graphic revolution that transformed design and popular culture.
Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall by Alexandra Lange
Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall
By Alexandra Lange
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Published: June 2022
Chronicles postwar architects’ and merchants’ invention of the shopping mall, revealing how the design of these marketplaces played an integral role in their cultural ascent. Publishers Weekly writes, “Contending that malls answer ‘the basic human need’ of bringing people together, influential design critic Lange advocates for retrofitting abandoned shopping centers into college campuses, senior housing, and ‘ethnocentric marketplaces’ catering to immigrant communities. Lucid and well researched, this is an insightful study of an overlooked and undervalued architectural form.”
Die Fläche: Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession, 1902–1911 (Facsimile Edition) by Diane V. Silverthorne, Dan Reynolds, and Megan Brandow-Faller
Die Fläche: Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession, 1902–1911 (Facsimile Edition)
By Diane V. Silverthorne, Dan Reynolds, and Megan Brandow-Faller
Publisher: Letterform Archives Books
Published: October 2023
This facsimile edition of Die Fläche, recreates every page of the formative design periodical in full color and at original size, accompanied by essays that contextualize the work, highlighting contributions by pathbreaking women, innovative lettering artists, and key practitioners of the new “surface art,” including Rudolf von Larisch, Alfred Roller, and Wiener Werkstätte founders Koloman Moser and Josef Hoffmann.
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