Fashion design alumni Paul Tazewell has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Costume Design for Wicked.
The Daily Hub
A roundup of ideas and projects from around the Institute
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New York City Commissioner of Culture Laurie Cumbo, who was a visiting assistant professor from fall 2001 to fall 2009 in the Arts and Cultural Management program at Pratt Institute, spoke about Broadway Week on Eyewitness News Mornings. Cumbo was also featured in Our Time Press. “Economically, cultural institutions are great drivers for the economy,” she said. “So if neighborhoods really want to thrive, it’s critical that they have a cultural institution there.”
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Zakariya Abdul-Qadir, MFA Fine Arts, Painting/Drawing ’25 is featured in the Art Newspaper about an exhibition at Haul Gallery. “The exhibition’s only painting, Zakariya Abdul-Qadir’s Bound by threaded dreams (2025), a rough-hewn portrait of a seated man, utilises unstable materials in a bid to render the work less desirable to acquire. The artist used non-archival paint applied to an unprimed support made from two canvases stitched together like the seam on a baseball; each element will hasten the work’s deterioration over time. The painting nonetheless sold during the opening (for $300), but its impermanence undermines its potential to be an asset whose value appreciates in perpetuity.”
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Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Practice Carlos Motta received a Ruth Award, which recognizes “extraordinary, critically engaged artists who approach their practices with continuous inquiry, imagination, and rigor.” The $100,000 award notes that “alongside videos and sculptures, the multidisciplinary artist produces social spaces for conversation that bring solace and knowledge to participants and audiences.”
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Cofounder and CEO of Acelab, Vardhan Mehta, BArch ’18, made Forbes’ 30 Under 30 for transforming construction with AI.
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Associate Professor in the School of Information John Lauermann was invited to join the editorial board at the journal Urban Geography.
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¡LLÁMENME ROBERTO! (Call Me Roberto!), a nonfiction picture book illustrated by Professor of Undergraduate Communications Design Rudy Gutierrez, was named to the Bank Street Mejor Libro Infantil/Best Spanish Language Picture Book List 2025.
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An exhibition by John Lehr, associate professor of photography, was reviewed in Whitehot Magazine and Collector Daily.
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The Mellon Foundation included Adjunct Associate Professor of Undergraduate Architecture Scott Ruff in an article about preserving the Coles House and Studio by architect Robert Traynham Coles. Ruff co-leads the Coles House Project. “This is a demigod as far as I am concerned . . . and there’s an opportunity to continue his legacy?” said Ruff. “Even though I have so many other things I’m doing, why wouldn’t I drop almost everything else and say, yes, this is important?”
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David Burney, academic director of urban placemaking management; and visiting associate professor in the Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment, published an opinion piece in Common Edge about public housing in Manhattan.
More Pratt Institute News
Open Studios, Endless Possibilities
Pratt’s annual MFA Open Studios were complemented by the first-ever Open Fields artist resource fair, making for an electric day of events celebrating artistic practice and the resources that sustain it.
Designing Digital Interfaces for Real-World Clients
From Pratt Institute News
Graduate student Shreesa Shrestha, MSIXD ’26, is making the most of every opportunity at Pratt as she balances client projects, community-building initiatives, and a prestigious Product Design Fellowship at The Museum of Modern Art.
Architecture Students Make Strong Debut at Design Competition
From Pratt Institute News
The Pratt team earned national recognition and the honorable mention award for a project centered on food, culture, and connection in Kansas City.