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The Daily Hub

A roundup of ideas and projects from around the Institute

  • Pratt women’s tennis excelled in the 2024–2025 academic year with an impressive combined GPA of 3.566. Special recognition goes to Kayla Abraham, BFA Critical and Visual Studies ’28, and Julia Ognibene, BFA 2D Animation ’25, who both achieved a 4.0 GPA this semester.

  • Jimmy & The Demons, a new feature-length documentary about Pratt alumnus and former Pratt faculty James Grashow, BFA ’63; MFA ’65, is premiering at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival, with a final screening on Sunday, June 15. The film follows Grashow, who taught art at Pratt from 1969 to 1982, on a multiyear journey to complete a large and detailed wood sculpture titled The Cathedral. The film was recently reviewed in The New York Times.

  • Rachel Genito and Jimmy Li, both BFA Communications Design ’26, were selected as finalists for scholarships from the Society of Illustrators. Genito was selected as a Zankel Scholarship finalist, while Li was selected as a Will Eisner Scholarship finalist.

  • Adjunct Professor of Undergraduate Communications Design Tim O’Brien was included in American Illustration 44 for his illustrations Reality and He’s Back.

  • Insectopolis: A Natural History, a new graphic novel by Fine Arts alumnus Peter Kuper, was featured in PRINT magazine, Comics Beat, and The Nation. “One of the things I hope to accomplish with Insectopolis is for readers who are not big enthusiasts of insects to recognize how hugely important they are in our day-to-day life and for the sustenance of our planet,” Kuper told The Nation. “Without pollinators, we wouldn’t have chocolate or coffee, and grocery store shelves would be mostly empty.”

  • Mark Fingerhut, BFA Digital Arts ’15, is featured in Artnet in a review of his “4D software poem,” Halcyon.exe: The Ride. “Most of the work’s recurring imagery—birds in the sky, boats at sea, storm-swept streets, and walks on sunny days—could be different symbols for the idea of “touching grass,” getting offline and into the world, even as the work captures the feeling of being pulled deeper and deeper into a digital wonderland, as one fascinating oddity clicks on to the next.”

More Pratt Institute News

A group portrait of nine smiling Project SEARCH interns dressed in formal and semi-formal attire, seated together on wooden steps in a brightly lit interior space. The group includes a diverse mix of individuals, with some in suits, button-down shirts, and one wearing a white ruffled dress. They appear proud and celebratory, possibly marking their graduation or completion of the program.

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.
Two smiling individuals dressed in formal attire pose on a red carpet holding Tony Awards. The man on the left wears a blue tuxedo with a colorful bow tie, while the man on the right wears a black suit with decorative details and a white high-collared shirt. The background includes logos for CBS, Paramount+, and the Tony Awards.

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.