Alice Rawsthorn (born 1958 in Manchester) is an English journalist and design commentator. As design critic of the International Herald Tribune she writes the paper's weekly Design column,[1] and also writes the Object Lesson column for the New York Times magazine.[2] A prominent public speaker and broadcaster on design and contemporary culture, she is a member of the Global Agenda Council for Design of the World Economic Forum. Rawsthorn is also a trustee of the Whitechapel Gallery in London, and a board member of Arts Council England.[3]
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Education and early career in journalism
After graduating in art and architectural history from the Cambridge University in 1980, she won a place on the graduate trainee journalism scheme of the Thomson Organisation and then became media editor of Campaign magazine. In 1985, she joined the staff of the Financial Times, where she worked as a foreign correspondent in Paris and pioneered the paper's coverage of the creative industries before becoming architecture and design critic.[4]
Work in the arts
During her career at the Financial Times, Rawsthorn became a member of the Design Council and a trustee of the Design Museum. In 2001, she was appointed director of the Design Museum. During her five years as director, the number of visitors to the museum rose by 40%, participation in the education program doubled, and the Design Museum website became the world's most visited design site. The museum also launched the Designer of the Year award, and mounted the Great Design Quest in collaboration with the BBC.[5] She reportedly resigned in February 2006 over differences with the museum's founder Sir Terence Conran concerning the future direction of the institution.[6]
Rawsthorn has since been active in the arts on a pro-bono basis. She joined the national council of Arts Council England in 2007, having been its lead adviser on the visual arts for four years and chair of the Turning Point review of the contemporary visual arts. Rawsthorn was appointed a member of the Arts Council's Visual Arts Board in 2008 and the Arts Policy Committee in 2009. As well as being a trustee of the Whitechapel Gallery, she is chair of the building committee.[7] Rawsthorn has served on many arts juries including the Turner Prize for contemporary art, the Stirling Prize for architecture, the British Council's selection panel for the Venice Architecture Biennale, the PEN History Book Prize and the Conservation Awards run by the Heritage Lottery Fund. She chaired the British Council's Design Advisory Group, and sat on its Visual Arts Group and Arts Advisory Committee. Rawsthorn was also a member of the British government's advisory panel on the BBC Charter Review. [8] She is a member of the Master Jury for the Aga Khan Awards for Architecture for 2010.
Championing design
As well as writing her columns for the International Herald Tribune and New York Times, Rawsthorn speaks on design all over the world. Since January 2008, she has chaired Talking Design, a quarterly series of conversations with designers, at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Rawsthorn also speaks at important political events including the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum at Davos in Switzerland, and is a member of the Forum's Global Agenda Council on Design. She has contributed essays to several books on design and contemporary culture, and has written a biography of the fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and a monograph on the work of the industrial designer Marc Newson.
References
- ^ Alice Rawsthorn's Design columns in International Herald Tribune
- ^ Object Lesson columns in the New York Times Magazine
- ^ DCMS announcement of appointment to Arts Council England
- ^ My mentor, Cathy Newman on Alice Rawsthorn, The Independent
- ^ Tom Dyckhoff, An exhibition of themselves, The Times
- ^ Caroline Roux: Prize diversity | Weekend | Guardian Unlimited
- ^ Whitechapel Gallery announcement of capital project
- ^ BBC Charter Review appointments, The Guardian
Bibliography
- Edited by Articulado (2010) "Articulado on Design", ADCV
- Edited by Jean-Pierre Greff (2009) "AC|DC - Contemporary Art, Contemporary Design", JRP Ringier, ISBN 978-3-905770-74-2
- Edited by Katrina Schwartz and Hannah Vaughan (2009) "Rises in the East: A Gallery in Whitechapel", Whitechapel Gallery, ISBN 978-0-85488-171-0
- Edited by Neville Wakefield and Jennifer Higgie (2009) "Frieze Projects and Frieze Talks: 2006-2008", Frieze, ISBN-10: 0955320151
- Edited by Bryony Gomez-Paladio and Arman Vit (2008) "Women of Design: Influence and Inspiration", How Books, ISBN10; 1600610854
- Edited by Marti Guixe (2007) "Don't Buy It If You Don't Need It", Camper, ISBN 9-788460-991359
- Edited by Malcolm Barnard (2007) "Fashion Theory: A Reader", Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-4130-4
- Edited by Polly Staple and Melissa Gronlund (2006) "Frieze Projects: Artists Commissions and Talks 2003-2005", Frieze, ISBN 0-9553201-0-0
- Alice Rawsthorn, Richard Allan (1999) Marc Newson, Booth-Clibborn Editions, ISBN 1-86154-062-0
- Alice Rawsthorn (1996) Yves Saint Laurent, HarperCollins, ISBN 0-00-255543-3
External links
- Alice Rawsthorn's official website
- International Herald Tribune website
- New York Times website
- Whitechapel Gallery website
- Arts Council England website
- Aga Khan Award for Architecture website
- Core77: Alice Rawsthorn
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