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The Daily Hub

A roundup of ideas and projects from around the Institute

  • Pratt received a $10,000 Bridging the Gap on Campus grant, funded by Interfaith America, for The Art of Listening, a forthcoming professional development series led by Vivian D’Andrade, director of diversity, equity and inclusion, Justin Kelley, assistant vice president and dean of students, and Emma Legge, director of student involvement. The Art of Listening is designed to reach supervisors and student employees across Pratt, emphasizing the importance of active listening skills to enhance communication, foster trust, and work across perceived and actual differences.

  • Jojo Buchmann, BFA Fine Arts (Painting) ’28, was among GrowHouse NYC’s 2024 Youth Design Competition winners for her piece Know Who You Are. “If we can see art as a gateway to transforming our perspectives, imagine how much change can happen in one individual, and then imagine society as a whole,” said Buchmann. 

  • Landscapes of Retreat by Rosetta S. Elkin, academic director of the landscape architecture program, won The John Brinckerhoff Jackson Book Prize. “The purpose of this prize is to reward contributors to the intellectual vitality of garden history and landscape studies.”

  • Ik-Joong Kang, MFA Fine Arts ’88, is the first Korean artist to participate in Forever Is Now, an exhibition set amidst the Pyramids of Giza. The exhibition news is featured in Hypebeast, Design Boom, The Art Newspaper, and Korea.net. Kang is also featured in Fad Magazine for his 700-foot-tall work at the Korean Cultural Center New York. 

  • Dr. Yuliya Dzyuban, assistant professor in the Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment, has been appointed to the Fifth New York Panel on Climate Change, “an independent advisory body that synthesizes scientific information on climate change and advises city policymakers on local resiliency and adaptation strategies that protect against extreme heat, heavy rain, coastal storm surge, and other climate hazards.” Dzyuban, the first full-time faculty member in the Sustainable Environmental Systems program, specializes in studying the impacts of rising temperatures in cities and helps to develop nature-based solutions that improve climate resilience.

  • Yihang (Edward) Xu, BID ’25, has been recognized with a Red Dot Concept Award for his project AirFarm, a self-sustainable mobile solution for modern nomads that he began in a studio taught by Chamille Thayer, professor of industrial design. Red Dot aims to celebrate the best ideas in design and business.

  • A new exhibition of work by Felix Gonzalez-Torres, BFA Photography ’83, was featured in Smithsonian Magazine. The exhibition is presented by the National Portrait Gallery and the Archives of American Art.

  • Duke Riley, MFA Fine Arts (Sculpture) ’06, was featured in a Forbes roundup of artists embracing environmentalism or sustainability at Paris Art Week. Riley was recognized for his “sustainable artistic practice” that “explores the dichotomy between powerful institutions and the natural world, and addresses environmental issues raised by an overwhelmingly consumerist, capitalist society.”

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.