OPEN CALL: Apply to the 2026 School of Art Student Exhibition!

Pratt’s School of Art Dean Jorge Oliver is pleased to invite all School of Art students to submit their work for consideration to be included in a group exhibition curated by Pratt alum Rachel Vera Steinberg (BFA Fine Arts, Drawing ’08) and artist and writer Avram Finkelstein. The exhibition will take place in August and September 2026 in Steuben Gallery, in partnership with Pratt’s Department of Exhibitions and in collaboration with the Department of Fine Arts, the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Alumni Relations, the Learning Access Center, and Pratt Presents.

The 2026 School of Art annual student show will provide space for reflection on the many forms of disability and expansive approaches to the meaning of access. Within a larger social framework, bodies and psyches are often spoken of, or represented as though they conform to a shared understanding of “wholeness,” functionality, and wellness. Through this exhibition, we hope to challenge these assumptions. We encourage consideration of disability as a metaphor for other forms of displacement, and present the following as framing questions:

What are ways to broaden our definitions of “disability”?

How do we depict inhabiting a body?

How does disability impact not only how you see yourself, but how you see the world?

How do we represent invisible affects, like pain?

How do we communicate undefinable experiences?

In which ways can social experiences facilitate or obscure our understanding of what it means to occupy a disobedient body—one that changes relative to itself rather than fixed ideals?

This call is not explicitly reserved for those who identify as disabled or experience disability, but is also for those who are considering the above questions. We understand disability across access modalities, inclusive of: visible and invisible disabilities; sensory, cognitive, processing, communication, attention, and learning differences and neurodivergent, emotional, psychological, and mobility experiences; mental health conditions; chronic illness, pain, fatigue, and conditions that fluctuate over time; environmental sensitivities and disabilities shaped by context and surroundings.

Submissions are welcome from all Pratt School of Art Students:

• Undergraduates (including Foundation and Associate Degree students)
• Graduate students
• The graduating class of 2026

Meet this year’s Curators:

Rachel Vera Steinberg is the Curator & Director of Exhibitions at Smack Mellon in Brooklyn. Her work explores cultural mythologies, science fiction, the role of technology in society, and systemic equity. Previously, she was the Director of SOHO20 Artists and the Assistant Director of NURTUREart. She has curated exhibitions locally and internationally, which have been written about in The New York Times, ArtReview, BOMB, The Brooklyn Rail, and elsewhere. After completing her BFA in Fine Arts from Pratt, she earned an MA in Curatorial Studies from Bard College.

Avram Finkelstein is an artist, writer, and founding member of the Silence=Death and Gran Fury collectives. His work has shown at MoMA, the Whitney, the Met, the Brooklyn Museum, and many other venues. He has written for BOMB and frieze and has been interviewed for The New York Times, NPR, Slate, and other publications. His book, After Silence: A History of AIDS Through its Images was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award in LGBTQ Nonfiction.

Additional questions? Contact Assistant to the Dean, Ciara Stack, cstack30@pratt.edu.