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Pratt Names Courtney Knapp New Chair of the Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment

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.

Graduate Architecture Student Quinn Gregory Named 2025 Fulbright Finalist

From Pratt Institute News

Gregory will spend nine months in Europe to study how bicycle theft undermines collective efforts to increase urban cycling.

Runway Ready: Pratt Fashion Seniors Shine at Powerhouse Arts

From Pratt Institute News

The 2025 Pratt Shows: Fashion runway presentation featured nearly 160 looks from collections by 30 graduating seniors; Haeone Son, BFA Fashion Design ’25, received the 2025 Christopher Hunte “On Point” Award.
Two graduates in caps and gowns celebrate outside, smiling and holding a Pratt diploma folder, with one tossing their cap in the air.

Hats Off to Pratt’s Class of 2025! 

From Pratt Institute News

Graduates accepted their diplomas during an exuberant Commencement at the iconic Radio City Music Hall. Honorary degrees were bestowed upon Claudia Rankine, Annabelle Selldorf, and Stefan Sagmeister.

Research Open House 2025 Awards Recognize Community Engagement, Sustainability, and Design Projects

From Pratt Institute News

Research Open House presented scholarship and partnerships to the public, demonstrating Pratt’s engagement with industry, community, and university partners, and its deep commitment to equitable forms of discovery and growth.

The Latest

The Daily Hub

A roundup of ideas and projects from around the Institute

  • Kate Evans, MFA Fine Arts (Printmaking) ’25, received the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, Robert Blackburn Printmaking Award. “Her work explores the self-importance that saturates society—whether through social media, political corruption, or daily chaos. By highlighting these themes, she pokes fun at our perceptions of ourselves, revealing the gaps between reality and self-image.”

  • Rosetta S. Elkin, academic director of Landscape Architecture, received Pratt Institute’s Research Recognition Award for her “varied contributions to the field of landscape architecture across architectural practice, pedagogy, and scholarship. Her research often takes her into the ground, as plant life develops underfoot. In writing and scholarship, she aims to experiment with the ways in which we compose our worlds, blurring the traditional boundaries in the research process.”

  • Alumnus Paul Tazewell and Pratt Trustee and alumnus Derrick Adams were among those to be honored at the 2025 Native Son Awards, which celebrates “mavericks and Black gay excellence.” Tazewell told The Hollywood Reporter, “This organization is incredibly close to my heart, and to be acknowledged by a community that celebrates the brilliance and resilience of Black queer and gay men is truly humbling. Thank you for seeing me.” Derrick Adams is also one of four artists featured in The New York Times Style Magazine’s 2025 Art Issue.

  • Pratt Fine Arts Ox-Bow summer 2025 awardees include Giovanna Lisa, BFA Fine Arts (Drawing) ’26, Isaiah Robinson, BFA Fine Arts (Sculpture) ’26, Jack Catlett, MFA Fine Arts (Sculpture) ’26, and Associate Professor of Fine Arts Laurel Sparks, who will be teaching Material Abstraction in Painting.

  • Pratt women’s tennis excelled in the 2024–2025 academic year with an impressive combined GPA of 3.566. Special recognition goes to Kayla Abraham, BFA Critical and Visual Studies ’28, and Julia Ognibene, BFA 2D Animation ’25, who both achieved a 4.0 GPA this semester.

  • Jimmy & The Demons, a new feature-length documentary about Pratt alumnus and former Pratt faculty James Grashow, BFA ’63; MFA ’65, is premiering at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival, with a final screening on Sunday, June 15. The film follows Grashow, who taught art at Pratt from 1969 to 1982, on a multiyear journey to complete a large and detailed wood sculpture titled The Cathedral. The film was recently reviewed in The New York Times.

Prattfolio

Perspective Shifts

Spring 2025

Change Your Gaze

An MFA Communications Design class explores new ways of thinking and making, finding collaborators in the natural world.