Jan Audun Uretsky (born January 20, 1960 - died March 10, 2016) was the only child of European-Jewish parents Karlin Uretsky and Marion Engel. His mother’s family fled Germany before World War II and his father was of Norwegian descent. The family lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York.

Jan attended primary school at Little Red School House in lower Manhattan where his father taught art. Uretsky attended the Walden School for high school and went on to study English at Vassar College in 1982. He earned a bachelor of fine arts in communication design from Parsons School of Design in 1986.

Uretsky married Christy Trotter (now goes by Little Shiva) in 1987. Trotter was also a student in the Parsons School of Design Communication Design department and took classes with Uretsky. They founded Trotter & Uretsky Design after graduation. The couple separated in 1989, and Uretsky worked as an independent designer at his own small design firm, Uretsky & Co. Among his notable clients were HarperCollins Publishers, Rizzoli New York, New York University, The New School, Human Rights Watch, and March of Dimes.

Uretsky was a graphic design instructor at Pratt Institute from 1999 until his cancer diagnosis in 2015. Also a connoisseur of a wide array of music, he was the Creative Director or FOEM, a free music label and international online community of music producers. In addition to being a graphic designer, Uretsky was an abstract painter and photographer in his “private creative life.”

Uretsky died of pancreatic cancer in March 2016 at the age of 56.

References

“About.” Uretsky & Co. Graphic Design. Accessed November 20, 2024. http://www.uretsky.net/about.html

“Artist of the Week- 2006-06-07 - Jan Uretsky.” FOEM. Accessed November 20, 2024. https://foem.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=144&Itemid=79

“Obituary for Jan Audun Uretsky.” All Faiths Cremation Service. Accessed November 20, 2024. https://www.allfaithscremationservice.com/obituary/Jan-Uretsky