Sheila Levrant de Bretteville

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Sheila Levrant de Bretteville is a graphic designer, artist and educator whose work reflects her belief in the importance of feminist principles and user participation in graphic design. Since 1990 she has been the director of the Yale University Graduate Program in Graphic Design, one of the oldest and most important design programs in the United States.

In 1971 Levrant de Bretteville founded the first design program for women at the California Institute of the Arts, and two years later co-founded both the Woman's Building, a public center for women's culture, and its Women’s Graphic Center in Los Angeles. In 1981 she initiated the communication design program at the Otis College of Art and Design.

De Bretteville has worked extensively in the field of public art creating works embedded within city neighborhoods. One of her best-known pieces is "Biddy Mason [1]: Time & Place,” an 82-foot concrete wall with embedded objects in downtown Los Angeles that tells the story of a former slave who became a midwife in Los Angeles and lived near the site. In “Path of Stars,” completed in 1994 in a New Haven neighborhood, de Bretteville documented the lives of local citizens—past and present—with 21 granite stars set in the sidewalk.

De Bretteville holds degrees from Barnard College and Yale University and has been awarded Honorary Doctorates from the Moore College of Art and the California College of Arts and Crafts.

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[edit] Bibliography

  • Redniss, L. "First Person: Three Styles." Print v. 58 no. 2 (March/April 2004) p. 56-61
  • Close, J. A. "Reconcilable Differences." ID (v. 48 no. 1 (January/February 2001) p. 58
  • Pou, A. "Exploding the Model: On Youth and Art." Public Art Review v. 9 no. 2 (Spring/Summer 1998) p. 4-11
  • Betsky, A., et al., "The I.D. Forty: An Insider's Guide to America's Leading Design Innovators." ID (New York, N.Y.) v. 40 (January/February 1993) p. 45-67
  • Brumfield, J. "Sheila Levrant de Bretteville (interview with Yale's new director of the graduate program on graphic design)." Graphis v. 47 (March/April 1991) p. 30-5
  • Wallis, B. "Public Art Marks Historic L.A. Site." Art in America v. 78 (June 1990) p. 207
  • De Forest, A. "Sheila Levrant de Bretteville (the Biddy Mason Wall, Los Angeles." ID (New York, N.Y.) v. 37 (May/June 1990) p. 24
  • Brown, B. A. "Hope for the 90's" (What Feminist Art Movement Leaders Feel Today." Artweek v. 21 (February 8 1990) p. 22-3

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