As I write this, our community at Pratt has recently begun another academic year energized with ideas, explorations, new alliances, and discoveries both inward and in the world.
This is a moment when we come together. It’s a season of beginnings and thinking about how we move within and shape our society, our culture, and the life we imagine for ourselves and our communities. It’s also a time of reflection on civil discourse and democracy—what do these concepts mean in action, and at Pratt, among our empathetic, visionary, critically curious designers, artists, researchers, specialists, and scholars, how do we contribute?
As we explore these questions, to create space for dialogues to flourish, Pratt’s Critical Conversations: Bridging Pathways Forward series of events is underway, supporting discussion and learning about our community’s cultural contexts, political engagement, and modes of expression. (Learn more at pratt.edu/criticalconversations.)
This is also a time of milestones that connect us around shared histories. Among them, the School of Architecture celebrates its 70th anniversary this year. It is the 100th anniversary of accreditation by the American Library Association of the School of Information’s library science program, and next year will be the 135th anniversary of the school’s first class. The Pratt Center for Community Development’s 60th anniversary kicked off in May with an event highlighting one of its long-standing initiatives, Made in NYC. Another Pratt Center program, the Taconic Fellowship, marks 10 years of supporting faculty, staff, and student projects undertaken in partnership with local organizations.
Meanwhile, 41 years ago, the first issue of Prattfolio arrived as a “campus feature newsletter” for the academic community and alumni, highlighting students, faculty, graduates, and staff along with Institute news. Decades and many iterations later, the magazine continues to represent the numerous facets of Pratt, now with a newly refreshed design and editorial framework we’re excited to share with you.
This issue is a celebration of how Pratt’s campus community connects and has through generations: the many ways of seeing and experiencing Pratt life and work, the range of our students’ and graduates’ extraordinary creative and innovative contributions, and the voices of Pratt people across generations—including yours.
We hope you’ll share your perspective (see the prompt along with Prattfolio’s map of Pratt in Brooklyn) and stay in touch, with Pratt and with one another.
—President Frances Bronet