Art Therapy is where psychology and creativity meet to help us help others. Through experiential, embodied learning and immersive clinical training, you’ll discover the curative nature of the creative process and the healing potential of art.
Creative, aesthetic, and psychotherapeutic theory come together in everything we do. Artwork is done in every course and is used to learn a range of therapeutic skills. Experiential processes translate the theoretical framework into personal and practical application. You’ll focus on a variety of populations over the course of two years of clinical training.
The Experience
The MPS in Art Therapy and Creativity Development is a 60-credit program for students who want a diverse skill set, balanced with a strong theoretical framework. Interdisciplinary, socially engaged, and justice-driven, our Creative Arts Therapy community is connected by a shared mission for transformative change.
Low-Residency Format
The low-residency format is an innovative educational program based on a low-residency adult-learning model. The program is designed for those students who do not live near or are otherwise unable to engage in a traditional master’s degree format.
Students in the low-residency format are admitted for the spring semester only.
The cycle of classes is as follows: in March, the students take two, 3 credit classes over 9 days; in June they take two, 3 credit classes over 9 days of classes with a weekend break followed by three weeks of classes which run Monday–Friday. Students generally complete reading assignments before classes and then complete their papers after classes are over, giving them a chance to integrate class experience with readings and clinical training experience. Two years of clinical training are done from September through May following the first and second year of summer classes. Supervision is completed through weekly online contact, as well as an active online forum that keeps low-residency students consistently in touch with Pratt faculty and one another. Housing is available on campus. The low-residency program is not considered full-time. Therefore, international students will be ineligible for F–1 visas.
Internships
We believe creative and clinical practices are best developed together, each informing and improving the other. Internships are a vital part of the hallmark experiential learning process. Much of the coursework draws directly from clinical experiences and processing of client material. Students complete internship experiences in an array of site placements, including inpatient hospitals, community mental health agencies, and school-based settings, among others.
The mission of the Creative Arts Therapy Department at Pratt Institute is to provide the highest level of clinical training in art and dance/movement therapy, preparing graduates to work effectively with people from diverse communities. Our unique teaching philosophy is based on a combination of personal experience, didactic learning, and practical application, and is rooted in the primacy of creative process and psychodynamic theory. We offer an integration of historical perspectives and current andragogy, leading to applications of practice in a variety of settings. The program combines the power of non-verbal communication, artistic process, and embodied creative action. Our students develop self-awareness and recognition of their unique attributes through experiential learning. They acquire an increased sense of self and resiliency, which is translated to their work as creative arts therapists.
Students will be able to identify and utilize their own internal processes in service of therapeutic interventions.
Students will comprehend and apply creative and aesthetic processes in the context of creative arts therapy theory and practice.
Students will be able to establish a therapeutic relationship using imagery, movement, symbolization, and verbalization; and recognize shifts within that developing relationship.
Students will be able to demonstrate knowledge of psychodynamic theory within the context of creative arts therapy practice in the service of diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing evaluation.
Students will be able to articulate clinical theory and applied practice through writing, research, oral presentation, and professional advocacy across broad interdisciplinary communities.
Students will be able to apply ethical and professional codes of practice as they apply to clinical practices, communities, and self.
Students will be able to understand the intersectionality of power, privilege, and oppression as they apply to clinical practices, communities and self.
Our Faculty
Alongside their teaching roles, our faculty are accomplished artists who integrate creative and clinical practices every day in their work. See all Creative Arts Therapy faculty and administrators.
Join us at Pratt. Learn more about admissions requirements, plan your visit, talk to a counselor, and start your application. Take the next step.
You’ll find yourself at home at Pratt. Learn more about our residence halls, student organizations, athletics, gallery exhibitions, events, the amazing City of New York and our Brooklyn neighborhood communities. Check us out.
The Dean of the School of Art, Jorge Oliver, is pleased to invite you to RSVP for this semester’s Dean’s Workshops with Ghanaian photographer Eric Gyamfi. 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳: 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘐𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦 is a four-day series taking place on Pratt’s Manhattan and Brooklyn campuses from Oct 16 - 21. Gyamfi will host a range of activities, from foraging for plants on campus, to engaging in group storytelling practices as a way of building new personalized botanical archives. Gyamfi’s experimental approach to lens-based work invites students to revisit the fundamentals of photochemistry and optics and to query perception through cameraless photography.
@soartpratt and @pratt_associate_degrees in collaboration with @prattphotography are thrilled to welcome #EricGyamfi to our community this month. We hope you will join these workshops and engage with Eric’s unique creative perspective while he visits Pratt!! RSVP in bio for the following activities and events:
Wednesday Oct 16, 1:30 - 2:30 pm, Pratt Manhattan Campus, Room 201 Perception, Photography, Perspective.
Thursday Oct 17, 10:30 am - noon, Brooklyn Campus, Film/Video Screening Room 102 Certain Winds from the South. Thursday Oct 17, 1:00 - 3:30 pm, Brooklyn Campus, Interfaith Commons Chapel Building Botanical Archives through Storytelling. Monday Oct 21, 10:30 am - noon, Brooklyn Campus, ARC Building, F-03 Camera Obscura. Monday Oct 21, 1:00 - 5:00 pm, Brooklyn campus, ARC Building, Non-Silver Lab Foraging for Photograms.
@prattinstitute @jorgeaoliver @prattfilm_video @prattfineart @pratt.dei @prattcei
NOW OPEN! 𝗣𝗜𝗘𝗖𝗘𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗬𝗢𝗨, 𝗣𝗜𝗘𝗖𝗘𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗠𝗘
Aug 5 - Sept 28, 2024
Rubelle and Norman Schafler Gallery
Curated by alums @nandewalters (‘23) and @scprosper__ (‘22).
Pratt’s School of Art Dean, @jorgeaoliver is pleased to invite you to 𝗣𝗶𝗲𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂, 𝗣𝗶𝗲𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗲. This exhibition showcases the work of 15 students and alumni who identify with the Black, African, African-American, Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Hispanic, Afro-Latinx, Black Hispanic, or Black Latinx experience or are of African diasporic descent. In selecting work for this year’s exhibition, and with the guidance of faculty supervisor, Innocent Ekejiuba, the curators were inspired by the work of Jamaican-British cultural theorist Stuart Hall and American sociologist W.E.B. DuBois to frame their vision — “The exhibition seeks to embrace the complexity of perception and representation and make the often overlooked experiences of marginalized communities visible”.
✨CONGRATS TO ALL THE ARTISTS ✨
Zakariya Abdul-Qadir (MFA Fine Arts, Painting/Drawing ‘25)
Kemi Alade (BFA Film ‘26)
Shanoya Allwood (BFA, Film ‘25)
Jazmin Loranne Chapman (BFA Photography ‘25)
Catherine Chattergoon (BArch, Social Justice/Practice, Photography Minors ‘24)
Ezra Cumbo (AOS Illustration ‘24)
Monique Edwards (MFA Fine Arts, Painting/Drawing ‘25)
Rob Hill (MFA Fine Arts, Painting/Drawing ‘25)
Jalin Kolen (BFA Photography ‘25)
Deona Lizette (MFA Fine Arts, Printmaking ‘24)
Fae Lugo (BFA Art and Design Education ‘24)
Ananda Ray (BFA Digital Arts, Interactive Arts, Social Justice/Practice Minor ‘24)
Morvens Regis (BFA Fine Arts, Painting ‘26)
Haley Sessoms (BFA Photography ‘25)
Sahara Sheikh (BFA Digital Arts, 2D Animation, Black Studies Minor ‘24)
GALLERY HOURS
Summer hours: Monday–Friday, 10:30 a.m.–4 p.m. (Aug 5–Aug 25)
Regular hours: Monday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
Thank you to our partners @PrattExhibits @PrattCEI @PrattAlumni @prattbap
Visit in person and enjoy the show! #prattschoolofart
@prattfineart @prattinstitute
Heartfelt congratulations to all School of Art students who graduated today across our eight departments from Dean Jorge Oliver, Assistant Dean Marcus Civin and everyone in the @soartpratt! 🎉💛🖤🎉 We commend your exceptional work during your time at Pratt and wish you every success on your exciting journey ahead!
Special congratulations to @prattfilm_video Assistant Professor Justice A. Whitaker who was awarded the @prattinstitute 2024 Distinguished Teacher Award at today’s ceremony! Thank you for your inspiring work and your outstanding contribution to your students and to our community.
#prattgrad24
@prattinstitute @prattfineart @prattdigitalarts @prattphotography @pratt_associate_degrees @prattarted @pratt_cel @jorgeaoliver @marcuscivinwriting @janesouth @karaelisehearn @aileen5003 @douglas.easterly
Sincere thanks to @poncilicreacion, Pratt faculty Erin Holmes @bryceentertainmentllc and artist & educator @carrie_re7l for leading the School of Art Dean’s Workshops series this spring. Thanks also to @prattarted @prattfineart and the Creative Arts Therapy department for hosting this semester’s stellar line up in collaboration with @soartpratt Dean @jorgeoliver. To the many students who participated and engaged with these artists and the ideas they brought to @prattinstitute, we hope you are inspired to broaden your creative expression and further engage with our community of eight departments! Our posters and promotional material were created by graduating @pratt_associate_degrees students Finn Evans & Nick Malandrino, Graphic Design AOS ‘24.
Special thanks to School of Art Assistant Dean @marcuscivinwriting and to Pratt’s Creative Services team.
✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨
📣 It’s that time of year when we welcome our equine friends to pose in the Rose Garden! The @soartpratt is excited to co-host Horses on Campus 2024 with @prattequestrian. Join in the fun and draw, paint, visit and enjoy! 𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝟭𝟱𝘁𝗵 𝟭𝟬𝗮𝗺 - 𝟯𝗽𝗺!
@prattdigitalarts @prattfilm_video @pratt_associate_degrees @pratt_cel @prattfineart @prattfoundation @prattphotography @prattarted
The Dean of the School of Art is pleased to announce a series of in-person workshops in dance, sculpture/performance and AI! A stellar line-up of workshop leaders include Pratt faculty Erin Holmes @bryceentertainmentllc, Puerto Rican art collective @poncilicreacion & artist and educator Carrie Wang @carrie_re7l. Workshops are open to all students and there are still some spots available! Links in bio to sign up.
🟪 Umfundalai Essentials LIVE: Pan-African Dance for Mirroring and Strengthening Diverse Communities
Hosted by Creative Arts Therapy
Mon April 1, 5:30 - 8:30 pm
Student Union, 200 Willoughby Ave, Brooklyn.
All levels of experience and mobility welcomed. Refreshments will be served.
Participants will have the opportunity to participate in lappa* art-making, a dance/movement therapy session with live drumming, and discussion, investigating healing processes and the ways Umfundalai is a cultural resource. Participants should wear comfortable clothing and comfortable shoes.
🟪 Poncilí Creación: Performance
Hosted by Art and Design Education and Fine Arts
Sponsored by the Pratt Academic Senate
Wed April 3, 7:30 - 8:30pm
Student Union, 200 Willoughby Ave, Brooklyn
Refreshments will be served. No tickets necessary.
This performance, Cerebro de Abuela Piel de Pierre, is a wordless talk about the power of freedom and creativity in the 21st century disguised as a puppet show. Come join!
🟪 Whose AI?
Tue April 2, 10:30am -12:30pm: Myrtle Hall, 4E-03
Tue April 2, 2:00pm - 4:00pm: Myrtle Hall, 2E.3
Tue April 9, 10:30am - 12:30pm: Myrtle Hall, 4E-03
Tue April 9, 2:00pm - 4:00pm: Myrtle Hall 2E.3
Join Carrie Sijia Wang for a series of creative workshops exploring AI chatbots and their impact on society! Participants will engage in playful, explorative activities to build chatbots together, develop a clearer understanding of AI technologies and their social implications, and partake in critical conversations as these technologies continue to take shape. For these workshops, students will need to bring laptops with Chrome browser installed. No prior experience in coding is required.
The Dean of the School of Art is pleased to announce a series of in-person workshops in dance, sculpture/performance and AI! A stellar line-up of workshop leaders include Pratt faculty Erin Holmes @bryceentertainmentllc, Puerto Rican art collective @poncilicreacion & artist and educator Carrie Wang @carrie_re7l. Workshops are open to all students and there are still some spots available! Links in bio to sign up.
🟪 Umfundalai Essentials LIVE: Pan-African Dance for Mirroring and Strengthening Diverse Communities
Hosted by Creative Arts Therapy
Mon April 1, 5:30 - 8:30 pm
Student Union, 200 Willoughby Ave, Brooklyn.
All levels of experience and mobility welcomed. Refreshments will be served.
Participants will have the opportunity to participate in lappa* art-making, a dance/movement therapy session with live drumming, and discussion, investigating healing processes and the ways Umfundalai is a cultural resource. Participants should wear comfortable clothing and comfortable shoes.
🟪 Poncilí Creación: Performance
Hosted by Art and Design Education and Fine Arts
Sponsored by the Pratt Academic Senate
Wed April 3, 7:30 - 8:30pm
Student Union, 200 Willoughby Ave, Brooklyn
Refreshments will be served. No tickets necessary.
This performance, Cerebro de Abuela Piel de Pierre, is a wordless talk about the power of freedom and creativity in the 21st century disguised as a puppet show. Come join!
🟪 Whose AI?
Tue April 2, 10:30am -12:30pm: Myrtle Hall, 4E-03
Tue April 2, 2:00pm - 4:00pm: Myrtle Hall, 2E.3
Tue April 9, 10:30am - 12:30pm: Myrtle Hall, 4E-03
Tue April 9, 2:00pm - 4:00pm: Myrtle Hall 2E.3
Join Carrie Sijia Wang for a series of creative workshops exploring AI chatbots and their impact on society! Participants will engage in playful, explorative activities to build chatbots together, develop a clearer understanding of AI technologies and their social implications, and partake in critical conversations as these technologies continue to take shape. For these workshops, students will need to bring laptops with Chrome browser installed. No prior experience in coding is required.
📣 Pratt’s School of Art Dean Jorge Oliver invites students to submit their work for consideration to be included in a group exhibition curated by Pratt alums Skye Prosper and Nande Walters. The exhibition will occur in August and September 2024 in the Schafler Gallery in the Chemistry Building in collaboration with Pratt’s Department of Exhibitions and the Center for Equity and Inclusion.
Submissions are open to any Pratt School of Art student who identifies with the Black, African, African-American, Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Hispanic, Afro-Latinx, Black Hispanic, or Black Latinx experience or is of African diasporic descent or associated regions/communities. School of Art undergraduate students (including Foundation and associate degree students), graduate students, and members of the graduating class 2024 who self-identify within the Black or African diaspora are encouraged to submit their work for consideration. The exhibition is an excellent opportunity for students to showcase their work, work with professional curators in conceiving a group exhibition, and engage with the greater Pratt community.
The School of Art includes students in Art and Design Education, Creative Arts Therapy, Creative Enterprise Leadership, Digital Arts, Film/Video, Fine Arts, Photography, AOS Graphic Design, Illustration, Game Design and Interactive Media, and AAS Graphic Design/Illustration. The exhibition aims to elevate the community of Black students in the School of Art and celebrate their accomplishments, diverse identities, perspectives, values, ideas, experiences, and beliefs. This exhibition will also provide an opportunity for contextual discussions on self-determination, intersectionality, and other emergent themes regarding identity.
𝗦𝘂𝗯𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝗺𝗶𝗱𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝘂𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝟮𝟲, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 .
Apply at the link in bio and share with your community! ✨✨
Questions? Contact School of Art Assistant Dean Marcus Civin at mcivin@pratt.edu
@prattfineart @prattfoundation @prattdigitalarts @prattfilm_video @prattphotography @prattarted @pratt_cel @pratt_associate_degrees @prattinstitute
Pratt is celebrating its 3rd annual Giving Day. Mark your calendars for March 20 and join in supporting creative expression!
Here’s what #PrattGivingDay means to current School of Art student Regis Morvens, BFA Painting’26:
“𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴, 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵!”
Link in bio & thank you for your generous support!
Both the MPS in Art Therapy and Creativity Development and MS in Dance/Movement Therapy Master’s are 60-credit programs providing a synthesis of creative, aesthetic, and psychotherapeutic theory. Courses offer a thorough theoretical framework that is translated into personal and practical application through an experiential process. Artwork and/or movement is done in every course and is used to learn therapeutic skills. Students focus on a wide variety of populations and are required to work with a different population for each of the two years of fieldwork/internship/practicum. Both programs are for students who want a broad body of skills, balanced with a strong theoretical framework.
LOW-RESIDENCY FORMAT
The low residency format is an innovative educational program based on a low residency adult-learning model. The program is designed for those students who do not live near or are otherwise unable to engage in a traditional master’s degree format.
Students in the low residency format are admitted for the spring semester only.
The cycle of classes is as follows: in March, the students take two, 3 credit classes over 9 days; in June they take two, 3 credit classes over 9 days of classes with a weekend break followed by three weeks of classes which run Monday–Friday. Students generally complete reading assignments before classes and then complete their papers after classes are over, giving them a chance to integrate class experience with readings and fieldwork/practicum/internship experience. Two years of fieldwork/internship (dance/movement therapy) or practicum (art therapy) are done from September through May following the first and second year of summer classes. Supervision is completed through weekly online contact, as well as an active online forum that keeps low residency students consistently in touch with Pratt faculty and one another. Housing is available on campus. The low residency format is offered to both art and dance/movement therapy students. The low residency program is not considered full-time. Therefore, international students will be ineligible for F–1 visas.
Students will be able to identify and utilize their own internal processes in service of therapeutic interventions.
Students will comprehend and apply creative and aesthetic processes in the context of creative arts therapy theory and practice.
Students will be able to establish a therapeutic relationship using imagery, movement, symbolization, and verbalization; and recognize shifts within that developing relationship.
Students will be able to demonstrate knowledge of psychodynamic theory within the context of creative arts therapy practice in the service of diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing evaluation.
Students will be able to articulate clinical theory and applied practice through writing, research, oral presentation, and professional advocacy across broad interdisciplinary communities.
Students will be able to apply ethical and professional codes of practice as they apply to clinical practices, communities, and self.
Students will be able to understand the intersectionality of power, privilege, and oppression as they apply to clinical practices, communities and self.