Barbara Nessim sketchbooks (facsimiles)

Barbara Nessim (b. 1939, New York, NY, USA) is a multidisciplinary artist and educator whose work spans six decades. Following her mother, a clothing designer, Nessim supported her education at Pratt Institute by working as a fashion illustrator in New York’s garment district. Soon after graduating from Pratt in 1960, she began her career as a freelance illustrator. During the 1960s and 70s, her imagery reflected the changing role of women in society. In 1982, Nessim was artist- in-residence at Time Inc.’s Video Information Services where she taught herself how to create computer art. Since then, computers and digital design have played a consistent role in her work. Her editorial and cover work has appeared in publications including Time, Rolling Stone, The New York Times, and Harper’s Bazaar. Nessim has taught in the MFA Computer Arts Program at the School of Visual Arts and in the Illustration Department at Parsons The New School for Design, where she was chair from 1992 to 2004. The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts named her its first Artist Laureate in 2009.