Let us know: What’s your go-to Brooklyn spot?
Where do you creatively refuel, open your mind, enrich your senses? Where have you found professional support, or information and ideas? What place would you recommend to someone in your field who’s new to the borough?
Email us at prattfolio@pratt.edu.
Brooklyn—where generations of artists, makers, and innovators have honed their work at Pratt and beyond.
An incubator of creativity, ideas, and action. Home to thousands of Pratt alumni who continue to shape its cultural, physical, and community landscape. In our Looking at Us issue, about Pratt people, experiences, and connections, it felt fitting to visualize this.
In the map below, we’ve pinpointed places across the borough with a special link to Pratt: Places where Pratt alumni run galleries, businesses, and spaces that foster arts, culture, and scholarship. Hotspots where creatives and professionals find inspiration and resources, including Pratt’s campuses and affiliated locations (in Brooklyn and beyond). Plus unmissable places to experience when you’re here, from the POV of Pratt students.
This nonexhaustive highlight of Brooklyn’s creative heartbeat is just the beginning. Share your pin suggestions with us for this map, and possible future iterations.
Pratt Institute is situated in Lenapehoking, the traditional and unceded homeland of the Lenape, past, present, and future.
Alumni Owned/Led
Armada
Cory Watson and Jason Golob, both BArch ’11
Custom furniture outfitters and millworkers based in the Brooklyn Navy Yard
63 Flushing Ave, Bldg 303, Unit 705
armadany.com
Base Ceramics
Catalina Parra, MS Urban Environmental Systems Management ’13
Ceramics studio specializing in slip casting
40 Park St #303
baseceramics.com
BOND Hardware
Dana Hurwitz, BFA Fashion Design ’12
Industrial-inspired metal jewelry
144 Jackson St #1D
bond-hardware.com
Bien Hecho Academy
Angie Yang, Industrial Design alumna
Woodworking courses in the Brooklyn Navy Yard
63 Flushing Ave, Bldg 3, Suite 1103
bienhechoacademy.com
Curious Jane
Samantha Razook, MID ’05
Day camp programs and a magazine for young makers
Multiple locations
curiousjane.fun
CW&T
Che-Wei Wang, BArch ’03
Design studio and prototyping shop
493 Greene Ave #1
cwandt.com
Dear Friend Books
Anna Sergeeva, MSLIS ’22
Bookstore with events for film, books, design, and more
343A Tompkins Ave
dearfriendbooks.com
DIVISION Design and Fabrication
Brandt Graves, MArch ’09
Design and fabrication studio with projects in a range of scales and mediums
972 Metropolitan Ave
division.nyc
Four & Twenty Blackbirds
Emily Elsen, BFA Fine Arts ’03
Celebrated pie shop and café founded in 2009
439 3rd Avenue
birdsblack.com
Franca
Jazmin de la Guardia, BFA Printmaking ’14, and Sierra Yip-Bannicq, BID ’13
Ceramics studio with an online shop, wholesale operation, and workshops
40 Park Street #301
francanyc.com
Gotham Taxidermy
Divya Anantharaman, BFA Fashion Design ’05
Taxidermy studio with classes in-studio and at other locations, like Morbid Anatomy Library in Industry City
26th St and 3rd Ave
gothamtaxidermy.com
L&L
Leigh Mignogna and Liz Turow, both MFA Communications Design ’13
Creative studio specializing in branding and digital for clients in arts, tech, and wellness
61 Greenpoint Ave, Suite 211
landl.us
Liv Ryan
Liv Ryan, BFA Fashion Design ’18
Fashion design studio based in Red Hook (read more in Prattfolio)
livryannyc.com
Makelab
Manny Mota, BID ’02, and Christina Perla, BID ’14
3D manufacturing company based in Downtown Brooklyn (read more in Prattfolio)
325 Gold St
makelab.com
Maroon Sausage Company
Howard Allen, MPS Design Management ’05
Jamaican jerk chicken sausages, sold at NYC and national markets and local restaurants
maroonsausage.com
New York Creative Therapists
Nadia Jenefsky, MPS Art Therapy and Creativity Development ’99; Drena Fagen, MPS Art Therapy and Creativity Development ’02
190 N 10th Street, Suite #301
nycreativetherapists.com
Office of Tangible Space
Michael Yarinsky, BArch ’11
Interdisciplinary design studio focused on architecture, interiors, furniture, and curatorial projects
36 Waverly Ave
tangible.space
Private Picassos
Valeen Bhat, BFA;MS Art and Design Education ’05
Art classes for children and adults, drop-in art making, and parties
237 5th Avenue
293 Grand Avenue (newly opened)
privatepicassos.com
Partner & Partners
Devika Sen, BFA Communications Design ’18; Lulu Johnson, BFA Communications Design ’19; Logan Heffernan, BFA Communications Design ’20
Worker-owned design practice with projects in art, architecture, government, and activism
232 3rd St
partnerandpartners.com
Saffron
Kana Togashi, BFA Fine Arts ’10
Flower shop for unique blooms and arrangements, founded in Fort Greene in 2009
31 Hanson Place
saffron-brooklyn.com
Sammy B.
Samantha Black, BFA Fashion Design ’05
Fashion studio with a women’s ready-to-wear line based in Crown Heights
sammybdesigns.com
The Shirley Project Space
Sarah Shirley, MFA Fine Arts ’01
Art space focused on midcareer artists with site-specific installations, salon nights, and community events
609 Washington Avenue
theshirleyprojectspace.com
Simon Liu, Inc.
Simon Liu, MFA Fine Arts ’83
Finely crafted painting supports, with four decades in the business (read more in Prattfolio)
280 24th St
simonliuinc.com
Studio Bonomo
Frank Bonomo, BID ’00
Furniture, products, and systems design for interiors
183 Lorraine St
studio-bonomo.com
Textile Arts Center
Visnja Popovic, MS Art and Design Education ’08 (founding member); Kelly Valletta, BFA;MS Art Education ’08 (executive director and founding member)
Creative programs for children and adults and resources for the textile arts community
505 Carroll St
textileartscenter.com
TXTbooks
Robert Blair, Rose Wong, Kurt Woerpel, all BFA Communications Design ’14; Nichole Shinn, BFA Fine Arts ’14; Thomas Colligan, BFA Communications Design ’15
Risograph studio with an online shop and risograph resources
txtbooks.us
Van Zee Sign Company
Will Van Zee, BID ’12
Sign company serving many local businesses
109 Grand Ave
vanzeesignco.com
Wooj Design
Sean Kim, MID ’21
3D printing design studio crafting lighting and home goods
1205 Manhattan Avenue, Ste 232
wooj.design
Creative and Cultural Hotspots
Arts & Design
Artists & Fleas
The Williamsburg outpost of this network of makers markets is a favorite among students Prattfolio surveyed, bringing together original design, fashion, and art.
BRIC
A mission-driven center for contemporary visual art, media, and performance, with an emphasis on civic action and community engagement.
Eyebeam
A home for artists experimenting with technology (especially in a social justice context), with educational opportunities, exhibitions, and performances, plus support including awards, grants, and a robust fellowship program.
Mark Morris Dance Center
Home to the Mark Morris Dance Group and educational programs for adults and youth, with connections to the Pratt community that include archivist Stephanie Neel, MSLIS ’15, and dancer Brian Polite, an alum of computer graphics.
Pioneer Works
Run by artists and scientists, this cultural center is housed in a large historic warehouse and hosts art and music performances, classes, exhibitions, an online magazine, and art, music, and technology residences.
Powerhouse Arts
A turn-of-the-century power plant reimagined as a nonprofit studio and production center for artists and fabricators, with facilities for ceramics, printmaking, textiles, woodworking, and public education and events.
Smack Mellon
With a focus on emerging and underrepresented artists, this nonprofit organization hosts exhibitions, a residency program for early-career artists, and a mentorship program for high school students in its location in DUMBO.
SMART Design
The Brooklyn Navy Yard headquarters of a strategic design and consulting firm that holds events like talks and salons featuring business, technology, and design leaders.
Terreform ONE
A research group addressing the threat of ecological extinction through innovations in architecture, art, and urban design, with an educational lab offering fellowships and a summer program for professionals.
UrbanGlass
This premier center for glass arts is home to over 380 artists and designers, and has a gallery, a quarterly magazine, public demonstrations, classes, and community and youth programs.
City & Community
Center for Urban Pedagogy
By centering civic engagement and direct collaboration with marginalized communities, this nonprofit works to improve accessibility, design, housing, public policy, and more.
Pratt Center for Community Development
Celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, “Pratt Center is the oldest university-based community planning organization in the United States,” based in the Research Yard (more below).
Hubs
Brooklyn Army Terminal
A historic military-supply base reimagined as a hub for artists, entrepreneurs, food and industrial manufacturers, and other creative businesses, plus event spaces for brand launches, performances, and trade shows.
Brooklyn Navy Yard
Home of Pratt’s Research Yard and a number of businesses and hotspots on this list, plus artist studios, exhibition space, and other attractions.
Industry City
Creative studios and performance and exhibition venues blend with shops, restaurants, and recreational space in a historic industrial complex on the waterfront in Sunset Park.
Libraries & Archives
Brooklyn Public Library
The sixth largest library system in the United States and a home for cultural programming such as author talks, art and history exhibits, film screenings, and live performances.
Center for Brooklyn History
The library and cultural center, which became part of the Brooklyn Public Library in 2020, is dedicated to local histories, genealogies, and more in a historically significant building in Brooklyn Heights.
Interference Archive
A volunteer-run space that documents the cultural ephemera of social movements (think: audio recordings, books, buttons, posters, T-shirts, and zines) through its collection and events, exhibitions, podcasts, and publications.
Lesbian Herstory Archives
One of the largest and oldest archives dedicated to lesbian history, and home to an ongoing collaboration with Pratt’s School of Information (including an annual fellowship) to digitize its collection.
Literature
A Public Space
Publisher of a critically acclaimed magazine and books (including Associate Professor of Interior Design Annie Coggan’s recent The Book of Errors), with opportunities like fellowships, masterclasses, and workshops for aspiring authors and editors.
The Center for Fiction
A literary nonprofit dedicated solely to fiction and storytelling with resources for emerging writers, author events, reading groups, writing workshops, and a public bookstore and café.
Franklin Park Reading Series
This longstanding free monthly event (second Mondays) showcases emerging and established writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry; recent readers have included Mahogany L. Brown, MFA Writing ’16, and Professor of Writing Samantha Hunt.
Poetry Society of America
This nonprofit, founded in 1910, promotes poetry in American life through programs like awards, readings and workshops, and installations in public parks, transit systems, and storefronts.
Wendy’s Subway
A publisher and presenter of literary readings, performances, talks, artistic and scholarly residencies, and workshops, and home to a library, reading room, and writing space.
Museums & Galleries
A.I.R. Gallery
Home to exhibitions, discussions, fellowships, performances, and more, this feminist institution was founded as the first artist-run, nonprofit gallery for women artists in the United States.
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
The 52-acre collection of plants and landscapes with arts and educational initiatives that include a partnership with Pratt’s graduate Landscape Architecture program.
Brooklyn Museum
The beloved local institution with a massive permanent collection and diverse rotating exhibitions of work that ranges from contemporary art to historic artifacts to international fashion. (On now, The Brooklyn Artists Exhibition features work by several Pratt artists; the show is on view through January 26, 2025.)
Lefferts Historic House
This historic site in Prospect Park has been a place of study and exploration around preservation, placemaking, and community engagement.
Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA)
With a gallery, performance space, and sculpture garden, MoCADA showcases the breadth of contemporary African culture and advocates for Black communities.
New York Transit Museum
Located inside a former subway station, this museum highlights the history, development, and evolution of New York’s iconic mass transportation system, complete with vintage train cars that visitors are encouraged to explore.
Weeksville Heritage Center
Rediscovered in the 1960s through a Pratt Center for Community Development initiative, and a place that continues to inspire student and faculty research and exploration, this site preserves and showcases one of the largest self-sustaining Black communities of the pre–Civil War era. Weeksville Heritage Center was designed by Caples Jefferson Architects, where Pratt alumnus Everardo Jefferson, BID ’68, is a principal.
Dewalt718/Wikimedia Commons
Performance & Film
Alamo Drafthouse
This outpost of the popular cinema chain screens a mix of new, classic, and arthouse films (including the Department of Digital Arts’ annual animation films showcase) and is a frequent venue for filmmakers promoting their latest projects.
Barclays Center
A state-of-the-art indoor sports arena that is home to the Brooklyn Nets and live music, comedy, and more; its art program has featured Mickalene Thomas, BFA Fine Arts ’00, and José Parlá, a Pratt>Forward mentor.
The Bell House
Live comedy, musical performances, podcast recordings, storytelling events, and more in a converted 1920s warehouse.
The Brick Theater
A venue for boundary-pushing and experimental performance arts, from theater to dance to video and virtual reality.
Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM)
The multi-arts center and performance space, founded in 1861, that’s a go-to for theater, film, dance, music, and other world-class programming (and it hosts Pratt’s annual film/video showcase of graduating student work).
Brooklyn Comedy Collective
A comedy club with shows six nights a week and improv, stand-up, and sketch classes.
Kings Theatre
This former movie palace turned live-performance venue in Flatbush also offers historic tours to explore the theater’s past, from its 1920s construction through its 21st-century restoration.
Union Hall
The basement of this relaxed bar (which also sports bocce courts) has a stage that showcases live comedy, music, and other events almost every night.
Pratt Spots
Brooklyn Campus
Pratt’s 25-acre campus is located in the heart of historic Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.
200 Willoughby Ave
Research Yard
Bringing together Pratt’s research activities, the Research Yard at the Brooklyn Navy Yard is a hub for research centers, including the Pratt Center for Community Development, and accelerators, and showcases the work of faculty, students, and staff each spring at the annual Research Open House.
Building 3, Floor 7, Suite 701, 63 Flushing Ave
Dock 72 + Pfizer Building
Two creative hubs adjacent to Pratt’s Brooklyn campus are home to MFA programs in art and design: In 2024, Pratt’s graduate facilities in Fine Arts and Photography moved to Dock 72 in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Northeast of the Brooklyn campus, the Pfizer Building is home to Pratt’s new MFA in Fashion Collection + Communication as well as studios taking on advanced graduate-level research from the School of Design and the School of Architecture.
Dock 72: 1 Dock 72 Way
Pfizer Building: 630 Flushing Ave
Beyond Brooklyn
Pratt on Governors Island
Pratt Institute is one of the core partners of the future New York Climate Exchange on Governors Island and an organization in residence, with space at Nolan Park Building 14, the site of research and programming including events organized by Pratt’s Center for Climate Adaptation.
Pratt Manhattan Center
Located just south of the Chelsea arts district, Pratt Manhattan Center is home to Pratt’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies, School of Information, Pratt Manhattan Gallery, and more.
144 W 14th St
Pratt Munson
Pratt’s extension campus in upstate New York, where students in specific art and design programs can start their Pratt studies, is part of the campus of Munson, the arts organization with a renowned museum in downtown Utica.
1200 State St, Utica, NY
Related Reading
Take a Ride on the Pratt Transit Art Tour
Make your NYC commute an art crawl with this map of mosaics, glasswork, sculptural installations, and more by Pratt faculty and alumni.