A roundup of ideas and projects from around the Institute
2017 Nobel Prize-winning organization ICAN invited Dr. Mary McBride, creative enterprise leadership chair and professor at Pratt, to deliver a talk at the United Nations on “The Arts, Youth Advocacy, and Fashion for Nuclear Disarmament” with Runa Ray, founder of Fashioning Social Environmental Justice. The event explored “how creativity serves as a catalyst for activism, inspiring global audiences and policymakers to engage in peacebuilding efforts.”
Work by Pratt Institute Editions (PIE), Trudy Benson, MFA ’10, and MFA/BFA Printmakers will be shown at the Brooklyn Fine Art Print Fair 2025 at Powerhouse Arts. PIE is the publisher of Pratt Fine Arts Department’s edition multiples. PIE invites artists to campus to produce an edition together with Printmaking Technician and Visiting Instructor of Fine Arts Caitlin Riordan, PIE co-director and Adjunct Associate Professor – CCE of Fine Arts Grayson Cox, and printmaking students at Pratt.
The Master of Science in Library and Information Science program was re-accredited by the American Library Association. The multi-year process was made possible by the ALA Accreditation Task Force, including Professors in the School of Information Irene Lopatovska, Leanne Bowler, and Cristina Pattuelli; Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Information Shawnta Smith-Cruz; Assistant Dean of the School of Information Quinn Lai, Assistant Director of Academic Programs and Service in the School of Information Meredith Brull, and St John Karp, MSLIS ’24, as well as all faculty, students, and staff that met with the ALA external review panel.
Professors of Undergraduate Architecture Lawrence Blough and Deborah Gans received a grant from PennPraxis to write a case study on Church Grove, a self-built housing project on a land trust in London by the Rural Urban Synthesis Society.
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently completed a $1.5 million upgrade to the drainage infrastructure of the North and Main parking lots. The project will capture 1.75 million gallons of stormwater annually, “helping to reduce flooding in the neighborhood as well as keep pollution out of the East River.”
Salt and pepper shaker designs by Eva Zeisel, who taught as a professor of industrial design at Pratt from 1934 to 1959, were featured by Cooper Hewitt. “I have rarely designed objects that were meant to stand alone. My designs have family relationships. They are either mother and child, siblings, or cousins. They might not have identical lines, but there is always a family relationship,” Zeisel said.
Interim Chair of Graduate Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Design Alexandra Barker was awarded the Arnold W. Brunner Grant for her project “Climate-Adaptive Vernacular Building Practices of Mexico City and Oaxaca—A Study of Traditional and Contemporary Biostructures Using Local and Renewable Materials.” For more information, visit the School of Architecture News Page.
Karina Sharif, BFA ’08, was featured in STIR. “I approach fabrication with a particular care and softness,” she said. It is important that when working with the material, I explore its ability to preserve history, tell stories and challenge the commodification of the material by highlighting it as precious.”
A dress designed by Jeremy Scott, BFA Fashion Design ’95, is on view at the Louvre Couture exhibition. Scott was featured in Vogue with Gigi Hadid, who wore a design designed by Scott at the exhibition celebration during Paris Fashion Week.
“Hangman,” a story by Professor of Writing Samantha Hunt, was published in The Yale Review.
From Pratt Institute News
From Pratt Institute News
