Sheila Levrant de Bretteville, Graphic Designer and Public Artist

Ms. de Bretteville received a B.A. in art history from Barnard College in 1962, an M.F.A. from Yale in 1964, and honorary degrees from California College of Arts and Crafts and Moore College of Art. She has designed numerous publications on art and culture, including The Photographs of Dorothy Norman and The Motown Album, as well as public art works: Biddy Mason: Time and Place, Omoide no Shotokyo in Los Angeles, Search: Literature in Flushing, New York, At the start…At long last… in New York City’s Inwood “A” train station, and Path of Stars in New Haven. Her work in books, magazines, and newspapers includes the redesign of the Los Angeles Times, special issues of the Aspen Times, Everywoman, American Cinematographer, and Arts in Society. Her posters and fine press editions are in the special collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and numerous university and public libraries. In 1971, at the California Institute of the Arts, she created the first women’s design program and, in 1973, founded the Woman’s Building and its Women’s Graphic Center in Los Angeles. In 1981, she initiated and chaired the Department of Communication Design at Otis/Parsons. Ms. de Bretteville joined the Yale faculty in 1990, when she was named professor and director of graduate studies in graphic design.