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The Daily Hub

A roundup of ideas and projects from around the Institute

  • Little Wing Lee, MS Interior Design ’06, shares her thoughts on five of her most important works in advance of the Dezeen Awards, for which she will serve as a judge. “My designs are always informed by context, location, and function,” she said. “I always think about the project’s story and connect that to the design decisions I make.”

  • This year’s New York Film Festival, which is presented by Film at Lincoln Center, includes a short film by Mackie Mallison, BFA Film ’23. Live From the Clouds, which was Mallison’s senior thesis film, will be screened on October 7 and 8 as part of the Currents lineup.

  • Amanda Huynh, assistant professor of industrial design, received the IDSA Young Educator Award for 2023 for her “noteworthy impact on industrial design education within the early years of [her] academic career.” Huynh said she hopes to inspire students to “pursue industrial design as your whole selves, the same way I have come to.”

  • Maggie Brennan, MFA Digital Arts ’19, wrote and animated a new show as part of The Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim SMALLS program. Agoraphilia follows a woman named Brenda working as a nonprofit street canvasser. “This was the first time I had to think about making the animation process more streamlined and iterative while balancing my own preferences for how things look and move,” Brennan said. 

  • Pratt Trustee and alumnus Derrick Adams, BFA Art and Design Education ’96, has a new installation on display at the National Mall as part of Beyond Granite: Pulling Together. America’s Playground: DC “reflects the story of desegregated public spaces in the nation’s capital” and is open to the public through September 13.

  • Audrey Schultz, chairperson of construction management, facilities management, and real estate practice, has been awarded the 2023 CMAA Mark Hasso Educator of the Year honor. This award acknowledges excellence in teaching and “recognizes a full-time educator for outstanding professional accomplishments and a commitment to construction management education.”

  • Reid Davenport, former visiting assistant professor of film and video, is featured in GW Today in a profile of his career as a documentary filmmaker and efforts to advance the rights of people with disabilities. “The idea that disability isn’t an individual medical diagnosis but rather a political class of marginalized people with shared experiences. It’s about removing systemic barriers in society,” Davenport said.

  • Marland Backus, BID ’15, speaks with Vogue about her career trajectory and her love of wearables that reimagine what’s possible. “I like to be a little bit controversial and push the boundaries,” she said. “What’s jewelry? What’s fashion? What’s wearable?”

  • Loren Daye, MID ’06, discusses her latest projects, interests, and career in an interview with Surface. “I’m trying some new things out that I don’t have a model for, but the unfolding—not the future outcome—is the objective,” she said. “Even on the gritty days, I’m riveted at its evolution. No built project will ever keep adapting the way a group of people pursuing an idea does.”

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.