Adjunct Assistant Professor of Writing Sofi Thanhauser spoke with Krys Boyd of Think podcast about the research behind her book Worn: A People’s History of Clothing, where Thanhauser looks at how linen, cotton, silk, synthetics, and wool have shaped civilization: “It’s not really a neutral story; it’s a story about domination.”
The Daily Hub
A roundup of ideas and projects from around the Institute
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As New York City marks the two-year anniversary of its first COVID-19 death, here’s a look back at a fall 2021 Pratt.edu story on how Pratt students are considering how to memorialize those lost in the pandemic. Shirley Chen, BFA Interior Design ’21, reimagined the New York State Pavilion as a healing path of mourning and connection.
![“Living Cycle: Mourning and Healing as a Part of Life” by Shirley Chen, BFA Interior Design ’21]()
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Clara Ha, visiting assistant professor of undergraduate architecture, spoke with Passive House Accelerator’s podcast about ChoShields Studio where Ha works on sustainability projects with a balance between the natural and built environment.
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Through April 3, Georgetown University’s Maria & Alberto de la Cruz Art Gallery is exhibiting work by photographer Rotimi Fani-Kayode who attended Pratt from 1980 to 82. Influenced by fellow Pratt alumnus Robert Mapplethorpe, he created stylized portraits of Black men before his death at the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
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Ellery Washington, associate professor in the Writing Department, was named one of the inaugural Baldwin-Emerson Fellows as part of the “I See My Light Shining” Oral History Project. The initiative to capture oral histories and artifacts from hundreds of elders from across the country is organized by the Emerson Collective and Columbia University.
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Follow @prattphotography for ongoing selections from this semester’s senior thesis exhibitions, such as Thomas Kohler’s Litter.
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On the Pratt Institute LinkedIn, women leaders making positive change are being highlighted for Women’s History Month. Read recent features on alumna Hiroko Nakamoto who is a leader in advocating for peace and environmental protection and Trustee Kathryn Chenault who is dedicated to supporting educational institutions, the arts, and improving opportunities for young people.
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Pamela Colman Smith is best known as the illustrator behind the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck, but the Pratt alumna also illustrated books, compiled collections of Jamaican folklore, edited magazines, and ran Green Sheaf Press which focused on women writers. Read more about her extraordinary life @prattinstitute.
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The Hauser and Wirth Institute nonprofit announced a gift of $280,000 for the full tuition of two graduate students entering Pratt’s dual-degree master’s program in library and information science and history of art and design. The support to diversify the archival field through scholarship was covered by the Art Newspaper and ArtNews.
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Jean Shin, adjunct professor-CCE of fine arts, was interviewed by Artnet about sustainability in her art, from turning a fallen hemlock tree into sculpture to an upcoming work with Philadelphia Contemporary involving living mussels: “As opposed to the so-called blank canvas, these leftover materials had such a richness of stories and histories, traces of former owners that had abandoned them and of the society that had cast them off.”
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More Pratt Institute News
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.
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.