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The Daily Hub

A roundup of ideas and projects from around the Institute

  • Jo Livingstone, visiting assistant professor of graduate communications design, speaks with Merve Emre on The Critic and Her Publics, a limited series from the New York Review of Books and Literary Hub, about Old English, anachronism, and writing criticism. “It’s very monastic,” she says. “It’s all about being alone but still reaching out to find the other people through the cave.”

  • Mickalene Thomas, BFA Fine Arts ’00, was honored at The New Museum’s 2024 Spring Gala, and will receive the Vanguard Award at the upcoming Los Angeles LGBT Center Gala. “My art has always been about more than pretty pictures,” she said. “Seeing the deep dark complexities of Blackness, of the Black body and its loveliness, is what pushes me forward to making what I make. It’s about creating a language that resonates and that challenges societal norms.”

  • Visiting Assistant Professor of Fine Arts and Pratt>Forward Coordinator Yasmeen Abdallah, MFA Fine Arts ’15, was interviewed in Shoutout LA. “I am interested in ephemera, aftermaths, and the stories told and secrets kept by imprints and objects that speak to our contemporary culture,” she said.

  • Matías Piñeiro, associate professor of film/video, received a Special Mention in the International Award category at the 46th Cinéma du réel International Documentary Film Festival for his film You Burn Me.

  • Pratt Institute is listed among the 30 best film schools in America by Backstage. “Instead of having students choose one specialty, Pratt focuses on educating them as ‘total filmmakers’ by teaching every step of the process and promoting interdisciplinary collaboration.”

  • Seymour Nussenbaum, BA Illustration ’48, was one of three surviving veterans from the U.S. military’s “Ghost Army” to be awarded a Congressional Gold Medal for their heroic contributions during WWII. The Ghost Army used “inflatable tanks, phony uniforms, fake rumors and special effects to deceive German forces.” Several of the students in Pratt’s Industrial Camouflage Program—which researched and developed camouflage techniques to support the defense effort—would go on to join the Ghost Army.

  • Salman Toor, MFA Fine Arts (Painting) ’09, listed among Artsy’s “10 Contemporary Painters Reviving Impressionism.” Toor’s paintings “frame their scenes similarly to the Impressionist café paintings, where the scenes seem to spill beyond what’s immediately visible in the frame.”

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.