The Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment (GCPE) has a new Alumni Spotlight series highlighting recent graduates, kicking off with historic preservation alumna Sarah Eccles from the class of 2021: “My thesis was definitely a major project for me. I got to explore what is very important to me and I loved that. I think when we worked in the studios, particularly in Sunset Park, documenting Bush Terminal and examining how an industrial site can relate to a community and how it can become important to a community was a real turning point in how I looked at historic preservation and how it shapes people and communities.”
The Daily Hub
A roundup of ideas and projects from around the Institute
-
-
Emilio Sosa, BFA Fashion Design ’89, created the costumes for Jesus Christ Superstar staged at the Hollywood Bowl from August 1 to 3, starring Tony Award winner Cynthia Erivo.
-
Julia Gamolina, visiting assistant professor of Graduate Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Design, shares her favorite parts of New York City, architectural and otherwise, for Archinect. The most underrated building in the city? “The General Society’s Library — the second oldest library in New York City! The library focuses on resources for those in manual, technical, craft, and creative occupations, and hosts the Artisan Lecture Series, which pays tribute to the art of craftsmanship by featuring master artisans who lecture about the intricacies of their specialized crafts.”
-
Daniel Lopatin, MSLIS ’10, has created original music for the upcoming film Marty Supreme directed by Josh Safdie and featuring Timothée Chalamet. Lopatin has a prolific musical career as Oneohtrix Point Never.
-
Garrett Benisch, continuing and professional studies lecturer, was interviewed by Martha Stewart for an article on the environmental harms of peat moss and what gardeners should use instead. Benisch is also the director of design development for Bioforcetech, a company that transforms waste into carbon-negative solutions.
-
Associate Professor in the School of Information John Lauermann published an article “Mapping super-gentrification in large US cities, 1990–2020” in Urban Geography with his co-authors.
![A man with brown hear wearing a button up shirt smiles at the camera. He is standing in front of a blurred green background of trees.]()
-
Jen Pawol, BFA Fine Arts (Painting) ’00, became the first woman to umpire a regular season game in Major League Baseball.
-
Michelle Towse, BFA Photography ’91, was interviewed by Little Black Book about her career in film and what it takes to succeed. “Creative problem solving relies on the same principles regardless of implementation. The language is the same; sometimes, you just need to learn a few new vocabulary words.”
-
Izzy Chavez, BFA Digital Arts (2-D Animation) ’24, had their work, Adam and Eve in the Kingdom of Animals, screened at the 2025 Annecy Festival.
-
Visiting Assistant Professor in the School of Information Bill Levay, MS Library and Information Science ’15, spoke at the Creative Operations Summit in New York, sharing how the New York Philharmonic Archives—and the digitized historical assets in our DAMS—play a vital role in marketing, storytelling, and audience engagement at the Philharmonic.
More Pratt Institute News
Art Outdoors: 5 Must-See Murals by Pratt Alumni
From Brooklyn and New Jersey to Colorado, check out a few recently created murals in New York City and beyond.
Finding Calm Through Design
From Pratt Institute News
Recent student projects tackle social anxiety and provide a path forward.
Making Your At-Home Setup Work for You
From Pratt Institute News
Recent student projects tackle the everyday challenges of working and studying from home.