PRATT PRESENTS A PRESIDENT’S LECTURE SERIES EVENT: WILLIAM DERESIEWICZ IN CONVERSATION WITH PRESIDENT FRANCES BRONET

How are artists thriving and making a living in the current digital economy? What is the true state of the arts today? William Deresiewicz, a leading critic of the arts and of contemporary culture, explores these and other pressing questions in his latest book, The Death of the Artist: How Creators are Struggling to Survive in the Age of Billionaires and Big Tech. Based on interviews with a range of artists, the book argues that we are in the midst of a profound transformation, one that is impacting our fundamental ideas about the nature of art and the role of the artist in society.

Our event consists of a conversation between Deresiewicz and Pratt’s President Frances Bronet, the latest in Pratt’s ongoing President’s Lecture Series.

Deresiewicz is an award-winning essayist and critic, a frequent speaker at colleges and other venues, and a former professor of English at Yale. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, The Atlantic, Harper’s Magazine, the Nation, the New Republic, and many other publications. He is the recipient of a National Book Critics Circle award for excellence in reviewing. In addition to The Death of the Artist, his other New York Times bestselling books include Excellent Sheep and A Jane Austen Education. 

Frances Bronet is president of Pratt Institute. An educator and leader at the forefront of interdisciplinary learning, Bronet previously served as senior vice president and provost at Illinois Institute of Technology; acting provost and dean of the School of Architecture and Allied Arts of the University of Oregon; and architecture professor, associate dean, and acting dean at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Her extensively funded work on multidisciplinary design curricula—from architecture and engineering to dance and fine arts, coupled with her own action-based installations with internationally acclaimed artists—have been highly recognized. Bronet holds architecture and engineering professional degrees from McGill University; she received her graduate degree from Columbia University. She was licensed by the Quebec Ordre des Architectes, and has practiced in multiple award-winning offices in New York and Canada, including her own in Montreal.

Co-sponsored by the Office of the Provost.