The Daily Hub

Kiernan Francis, BFA Film ’23, will have his film Trial Period featured on the Criterion Channel’s February lineup. Francis wrote and directed the film, which was submitted as his thesis project in Pratt’s Film/Video senior showcase for 2023.  

Megan Thee Stallion wears pieces by two Pratt alumni in the video for her new song “Hiss.” Laurel Dewitt, BFA Fashion Design ’06, created a custom crystal neckpiece for the artist, while Sarah Sokol, BFA Interior Design ’11, provided a custom hat.

Gerald Levy, adjunct assistant professor of social science and cultural studies, discussed the growing strength of the labor movement in the United States with CFO Dive. “The ‘mood’ of the workers has changed,” Levy said. “They see the current time as a historic ‘moment’ to strike while the iron is hot and make transformational changes.”

Salman Toor, MFA Fine Arts (Painting) ’09, shares his work, preoccupations, and influences in the PBS arts and culture series, CANVAS. “About three or four years ago, I decided to make semi-autobiographical paintings that were about being more out as a gay man,” he said.

Steve Locke, professor of fine arts, has joined the Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture’s Board of Governors to advance the school’s mission of uplifting emerging visual artists. “Skowhegan has been such a major part of my life as an artist and educator,” he said. “I’m really happy to have this opportunity to serve and give back to a place that has given so much to me.”

Stefan Sagmeister, MS Communications Design ’88, has been named the 2024 William O. Steinmetz ’50 Designer in Residence at the Maryland Institute College of Art. As part of the residency, he will give a lecture on his work as a designer, artist, and author.

Rudy Gutierrez, professor of undergraduate communications design and BFA ’79, was commissioned by the MTA Arts & Design program to create an illustrated design for its popular Poster program. His vibrant Transporting Art to Life! design can be viewed on various lines throughout the NYC subway system and is available for purchase as a poster.

The Washington Post profiles Hamid Rahmanian ’96, who majored in computer animation at Pratt, and his epic Song of the North multimedia production that uses 483 shadow puppets to adapt part of the Shahnameh (Book of Kings). “The ‘Shahnameh’ is like ‘The Iliad’ and ‘The Odyssey’ for Iranians,” Rahmanian said.

Bryan Rogers, MFA ’10, discusses his studio space and approach to work with Artnet ahead of his second solo exhibition Wallflowers at Monya Rowe Gallery in New York. “I spend most of my days in front of my painting working or thinking about working,” he said. “Much of that time is spent painting small details.”

Philip Parker, adjunct associate professor – CCE of Graduate Architecture and Urban Design (GAUD), and John Shapiro, professor in the Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment, discuss the complexity of installing seawalls for climate resilience in an article for the Commercial Observer, as well as emerging designs that better accommodate environmental and social conditions. “What we’re designing is not a wall but a system: a way in which we can actually use advanced computation to make variations in the edge and implement those in different places,” Parker said.