Pratt School of Art provides a rigorous, student-centered education that emphasizes risk-taking and exploration. We graduate diverse artists and professionals who use their expertise with insight, enriching culture and the world.
Mission
Pratt School of Art provides a rigorous, student-centered education that emphasizes risk-taking and exploration. We graduate diverse artists and professionals who use their expertise with insight, enriching culture and the world. Two major objectives guide every department:
- The first objective is an emphasis on professional skills development. The school’s students gain the techniques, skills, methodology, and vocabulary required for success as productive artists, designers, and scholars.
- The second objective—imperative so that the professional expertise is not simply technical training—is the development of the critical judgment and historical perspective needed to become a problem solver. Art and design history, melded with studies in the liberal arts and sciences, provides the context for stimulating intellectual and creative inquiry.
Vision
Generate, investigate, play, collaborate, reflect, research, make, experiment, discover. Pratt School of Art is a dynamic laboratory of diverse students, faculty, and staff committed to meeting the challenges of the 21st century. We support a rich, open dialogue that is responsive to students’ unique backgrounds and interests. Our programs immerse students in the histories, ideas, and debates of their disciplines- and beyond. Guided by outstanding faculty, students learn to integrate theory and practice, develop their creative voices, and actively engage with the world.
Values
- Emphasize diversity and inclusion, providing a safe, stimulating environment in which students can discover and grow.
- Teach artists and professionals to understand the social, ethical, and environmental impact of their work.
- Develop criticality through a mutual, sustained process of critique, articulation, and reflection.
- Foster an interdisciplinary environment that allows students to broaden their creative thinking and pursuits.
- Encourage both individual and collaborative ventures, building community which aids students’ future career endeavors and social engagement.
- Provide experiential learning through diverse academic and professional opportunities, guided by faculty mentors.
- Spotlight the value of Brooklyn and New York City as artistic and cultural resources by direct engagement with our city’s museums, libraries, galleries, and non-profits.