Skip to content

The Daily Hub

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.

  • 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.”

More Pratt Institute News

A group portrait of nine smiling Project SEARCH interns dressed in formal and semi-formal attire, seated together on wooden steps in a brightly lit interior space. The group includes a diverse mix of individuals, with some in suits, button-down shirts, and one wearing a white ruffled dress. They appear proud and celebratory, possibly marking their graduation or completion of the program.

Workplace Ready: Project SEARCH Interns Graduate

New York City high school students received career training through Project SEARCH, a national program focused on workforce-readiness for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Pratt Names Courtney Knapp New Chair of the Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment

From Pratt Institute News

An award-winning scholar and professor in the Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment’s Urban and Community Planning program, Knapp will assume the role on July 1, 2025, succeeding Eve Baron, who is stepping down to join the full-time faculty.
Two smiling individuals dressed in formal attire pose on a red carpet holding Tony Awards. The man on the left wears a blue tuxedo with a colorful bow tie, while the man on the right wears a black suit with decorative details and a white high-collared shirt. The background includes logos for CBS, Paramount+, and the Tony Awards.

Alumni Harvey Fierstein and Paul Tazewell Shine at the Tony Awards

From Pratt Institute News

Esteemed writer and actor Harvey Fierstein was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the theater; Oscar-winning designer Paul Tazewell won for Best Costume Design in a Musical.