For Freedoms (co-founded by Michelle Woo, BFA Fine Arts (Painting ’07)) was featured in the New York Times and Print Magazine. The organization is beginning a three-year residency with the National Gallery of Art.
The Daily Hub
A roundup of ideas and projects from around the Institute
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Jake Stewart, AOS Illustration ’26, was named the first place winner of an illustration contest for students, hosted by Pratt’s AOS Department and leading Italian legacy printer PdiPigna. Participants designed notebook covers and the winning notebook design is to be printed and sold commercially in a limited-edition release. As the winner, Stewart will earn a portion of commissions as well as the opportunity to work with an established art brand.
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Professor of Undergraduate Architecture John Lobell appears in a documentary film about post modernist architects Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, which premiered at the 2024 Architecture & Design Film Festival. Lobell was a student of Venturi and Scott Brown in the 1960s, and a clip of his interview appears in the film.
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Edel Rodriguez, BFA Fine Arts (Painting) ’94, was selected as a PRINT Awards Jury Member for Hand Lettering, Illustration, Graphic Novels, and Invitations. The jurors were chosen because they possessed the “insight and experience needed to recognize standout work across these creative categories.” Rodriguez has also been chosen as The Sidney Harman Writer-in-Residence for the spring 2025 semester at Baruch College, and he recently presented his book, The Mango Tree, at the Miami Book Fair.
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Laurie Cumbo, who was a visiting assistant professor from fall 2001 to fall 2009 in the Arts and Cultural Management program at Pratt Institute, was listed among 2024’s Leading Culturepreneurs: Pioneers of Cultural Transformation by Elucid Magazine. “As New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner, Cumbo oversaw significant cultural grants, expanded public art installations, and championed arts institutions, ensuring the city’s vibrant arts scene remained valued by residents and visitors alike.”
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Devin B. Johnson, MFA ’19, was interviewed for the Fall 2024 issue of Gagosian Quarterly. During his first semester at Pratt, he says he was challenged to think “more in depth about the ideas and concepts of my practice, the whys and the scaffolding of what my practice was based on.” He remarks on the “influential professors,” including Greg Drasler, Torkwase Dyson, and Cullen Washington Jr, who “challenged their students to think and talk about their work in a more philosophical manner.“ A painting of Donald Glover by Johnson was also featured in TheWrapBook.
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Former Dean of the School of Architecture, Dr. Harriet Harriss, professor in the Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment, was featured in Building Design and on Dezeen’s top 10 architecture and design books of 2024 for 100 Women: Architects in Practice, co-authored with Naomi House, Monika Parrinder, and Tom Ravenscroft.
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An exhibition by Visiting Associate Professor of Fine Arts Nat Meade was included in Cultured’s 10 must-see gallery shows in LA this month.
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Three short films by Mackie Mallison, BFA Film ’23, will be streaming on Vimeo starting today, January 9.
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Pratt Center and its partners in the Basement Apartments Safe for Everyone (BASE) coalition won a victory with the recent enactment of legislation that will enable the creation of a basement and cellar apartment legalization program in NYC. “These zoning and building code reforms, following the State legislation won earlier this year, represent the key regulatory changes needed for safe basement apartment conversions.”
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.