Design Works High School: Annual Student Art Exhibition

Design Works High School and Pratt Institute are pleased to present the first annual exhibition of student work at the Schafler Gallery, opening Friday June 5, 5–7pm. The exhibition features both collaborative and individual work from the visual art and design courses at Design Works, including: 3D Design, Architecture, Art and Social Justice, AP 2D Art, and Design Lab.

Architecture students designed Architecture Models projects from Architecture class showcasing drawings and 3D forms by students exploring modular and sustainable architecture, as well as landscape architecture design concepts. 

AP 2D Art students developed a body of work exploring their own interests, including topics ranging from the benefits of community, representing animal textures with unusual materials, and expressing suppressed emotions. 

The Community Weaving Project from ninth grade students in Art and Social Justice used collected textiles and some unlikely materials to create a collaborative over-under weave. Both students and staff contributed to the weaving as a gesture of our school community working together. 

Ninth grade students in Art and Social Justice designed Extreme Color Portraits, inspired by artist Bisa Butler who is known for creating vibrant portraits out of fabric. Students practiced face proportion techniques through self-portrait or representing someone who is significant to them.

The Lens of Immigration showcases messages that explore urgent social and political issues affecting NYC immigrant communities today. These graphic design posters emerged from a 10-day workshop collaboration with the Center for Urban Pedagog, where students explored the question: How do news images and graphics shape the way people understand immigration and ICE in NYC? 

Another project by the Art and Social Justice students are the Neurograph Paintings which utilized a meditative process that helped the artists slow down and be more deliberate in their drawings. Students drew intersecting lines and shapes with permanent markers to create a web-like design that resembles neurons in the brain. Then students applied watercolor techniques such as graded washes, crayon-resist, dry and wet brush techniques to fill in the spaces between the sinewy, black lines. The Design Lab’s Newspaper Fashion pieces are a collaborative design challenge focused on sustainability, creativity, and environmental awareness. Inspired by the growing impact of fast fashion, student designers explored what it means to “slow down” the clothing production process by creating wearable fashion pieces using primarily recycled newspaper and reused materials. 

3D Design students created Stop Motion Animation projects that allowed them to create their own imaginary worlds. Students worked in groups to conceive and create characters, build them with wire armature, and use felt and fabric to sew clothes. 

The Wearable Cardboard Sculptures are also created by the students in 3D Design. Each student chose to represent whimsical characters as they used precise sculpting techniques like scoring, layering, and slotting to create a variety of textures and forms, solely out of cardboard.

Design Works High School is a NYC public high school located in Brooklyn. Founded by Pratt Institute and Bank Street College of Education, Design Works is part of the Imagine Schools Network of innovative and academically rigorous schools with student-centered learning environments. 

Design Works High School students apply design thinking to solve complex problems and build a more equitable world. They collaborate, critique, defend, and revise throughout design challenges, graduating ready to pursue their passions in college, creative careers, and as social justice leaders. 

Thank you to our Art and Design Staff (Danielle Bullock, Gladys Pasapera, Olja Stipanovic), the Parent Teacher Association, and Pratt Institute Gallery Staff for their support with this exhibition.