Sarah Lewis
Where does creative human endeavor spring from? How can we harness its full potential?
Author of The Rise | Guest-Editor of Aperture’s “Vision & Justice” Issue | Associate Professor At Harvard
Sarah Lewis is the bestselling author of The Rise, which is the biography of an idea—a big idea—that no current term yet captures. It’s about creative human endeavor, and how innovation, mastery, and new concepts are found in unlikely places. Lewis also guest-edited the “Vision & Justice” issue of Aperture—a landmark collection that address race, photography, and social justice.
“[The Rise is] a welcome departure from standard accounts of artistry and innovation.”
— Lewis Hyde, author of The GiftBursting onto the scene with a popular TED talk that received over 2.5 million views, and her bestselling book The Rise—about human creativity—Sarah Lewis explores the power of surrender for fortitude, the criticality of play for innovation, and the importance of grit and creative practice. “Like Malcolm Gladwell,” Edwidge Danticat writes, “[Lewis] brilliantly takes complex ideas and makes them easy to follow, making it possible for us to see the world in a brand new way.” Kirkus Reviews writes: "Creativity, like genius, is inexplicable, but Lewis’ synthesis of history, biography and psychological research offers a thoughtful response to the question of how new ideas happen."
Lewis is also the guest-editor of Aperture magazine’s instant classic “Vision & Justice” issue, which has received unprecedented press coverage and sparked a national conversation. Now in its fourth printing, the landmark issue—dedicated to photography of the black experience—explores, with eloquent reach, “what humanity looks like.” TIME writes that it “comes at a time astir with thoughtful considerations about black culture and a new quest for self and identity.” In 2020, The Vision and Justice Project was acquired by One World, an imprint of Random House, and will be turned into a highly-anticipated deluxe forthcoming book.
In addition to garnering her high-profile features in the New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and Boston Globe, her work also won the prestigious Infinity Prize from the International Center of Photography, and is required reading at NYU’s Tisch School. Recently, it became one of Harvard’s core “general education” curriculum classes, with Lewis speaking to packed lecture halls about the role of art and artists to reshape our understanding of social justice and history. In 2019, she became the inaugural recipient of the Freedom Scholar Award, presented by The Association for the Study of African-American Life and History. The award honors Lewis for her body of work and its “direct positive impact on the life of African-Americans”.
Lewis is an Associate Professor at Harvard, in the Departments of History of Art and Architecture, and African and African American Studies. She has spoken at SXSW, appeared on Oprah’s “Power List,” served on President Obama’s Arts Policy Committee, and been profiled in Vogue. Lewis has held positions at Yale’s School of Art, the Tate Modern, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Her essays have been published in Artforum and The Smithsonian, and her book on Frederick Douglass is forthcoming from Harvard University Press. Lewis also edited an October Files volume of essays and interviews exploring the work of the influential American artist Carrie Mae Weems, to be released in May 2021. She received her B.A. from Harvard, M. Phil from Oxford, and Ph.D. from Yale.
“Sarah’s keynote was the perfect affirmation of support for the arts and so much more…the generosity and grace of her work set a tone that was present throughout the convening, and we heard so much gratitude from everyone who saw her presentation—including the hotel staff and AV technicians! It meant a lot to the artists in the room to have someone like Sarah there and her perspective on culture broadly, really nurtured the camaraderie built among the artist cohort.”
The USA Team“I don’t think it is possible to overstate the impact your presence had on our students and faculty. People were inspired, moved, and affirmed by you. Your work is incredible and your presence and warmth are equally compelling. Thank you for making the trip, for sharing with such genuine enthusiasm, and for continuing to engage the students who follow up with you.”
The Brearley School“As I opened the Global PR Summit feedback survey today, I realized that you and Ketchum deserve kudos directly from everyone who attended for bringing in Sarah Lewis. I had heard that she speaks even more eloquently than her book reads, but didn’t believe it until seeing her in action. I’m re-reading The Rise this week, thanks to Ketchum’s sponsorship.”
Holmes PR Summit“You were the perfect balance—great stories, so joyful, lots of insights that helped our audience. I hope you could sense that everyone is leaving thinking about things differently, and are, most importantly happy.”
LSAC“Sarah’s presence and her words were deeply inspiring and so relevant to the educators at our event. She made a tremendous impact. We were so pleased. And thank you for all of your assistance in the process. You were so integral to the evening’s success.”
North Carolina Museum of Art“You have no idea how many people came up to me Saturday afternoon who were transformed by your presentation. Thank you so very much for joining us and for having the courage to participate! You were vital to making sense of that whole topic. Thank you!”
Kennedy CenterSpeech Topics
The Rise Creativity and the Search for Mastery
Vision & Justice Race, Citizenship, and America
Can art today bring about the catalytic social change that it has in the past? What is the role of the artist in shifting our perceptions, shattering biases, and creating the world we want? More than ever, we are inundated with images. Awash in them. Yet the artist alone has the power—through one iconic image, one profound gesture—to help focus our attention on what truly matters. In a bold new talk, Sarah Lewis makes a lucid and original case for art as a lever to social justice and cultural transformation. “The endeavor to affirm the dignity of human life cannot be waged without pictures,” she has written. “To be an engaged global citizen right now requires visual literacy.” Gathering in various threads—art history, technical innovation, race, photography, the story of America, and a deeply personal narrative—Lewis takes us to a place of deeper contemplation and understanding. She celebrates individual artists, invokes the collective imagination, and helps us see afresh both what is there, right in front of us, as well as what could be.
The Power of Images During a Pandemic
Visual Literacy for Marketers Everything You Need to Know About Working with Images in Our Politically Fraught Moment
Suddenly, and quite publicly, visual literacy has become a hotly-discussed topic in marketing. Carelessly borrowing imagery from the wider culture risks accusations of being tone-deaf, out of touch. The examples pile up daily. If you produce anything visual—photography, video, social media, corporate identities—there is a new challenge. How do you create iconic images while sidestepping controversy? How do you ensure your work is not called-out for a lapse in judgement, but rather for positive associations? To Harvard historian and art curator Sarah Lewis, our turbulent political moment requires “an advanced state of visual literacy.” Companies now require the ability to decode symbols and navigate the complexity of contemporary politics with savvy and empathy. Showing that you are engaged with the world, she writes, “requires grappling with pictures, and knowing their historical context with, at times, near art-historical precision.” In this sweeping talk, based on her award-winning work around “Vision and Justice,” Lewis discusses how even the casual consumer is now an expert critic: an engaged citizen who knows how to parse authenticity. Lewis answers the central questions brands must grapple with to pierce our media-saturated culture and reach audiences in a genuine way. How do we celebrate, rather than steal or appropriate, the work of artistic creators? How can we invoke the past with reverence and respect? And how might we imbue our calls to action with a sense of real gravity? With Lewis, audiences learn how to truly read, appreciate, and intelligently disseminate images—images that are arresting, convincing, persuasive, but also moral and just. This is an eye-opening, deeply moving, and wholly pragmatic look into the true force that images can play in our culture.
Related Links & Articles
SarahElizabethLewis.com
Vision & Justice
Kerry Washington Wants You to Know the Truth
Where Are the Photos of People Dying of Covid?
What Images Will Define the COVID-19 Pandemic?
The Racial Bias Built Into Photography
This Is Sarah Lewis. You Should Know Who She Is.
Understanding Race and History Through Photography
The Power of Art That Makes You Pause
Putting a lens on race, photography, and citizenship
Celebrating Black Culture with a Careful Eye
Lessons On Creativity From Author and Harvard Professor Sarah Lewis
Review of The Rise
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As reported in The New York Times, Sarah Lewis’s exploration of race through the lens of...
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