Alumni Notes is Pratt alumni news highlights compiled from class notes submissions, newsletters, items shared by faculty and staff, and media mentions.
Submit your notes for Spring 2026 now—here are our submission guidelines:
Pratt alumni, we want to know what you’re up to, and so do your fellow graduates. Send your updates on work and life to classnotes@pratt.edu. Notes may be up to 75 words in length. Please include your full name, degree or program, and graduation year. Submissions will be edited for length, clarity, and style. Image submissions should be high resolution (300 dpi at 5 x 7 inches).
Group Highlights
Two Pratt alumni were named 2025 Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame inductees: Rudy Gutierrez, BFA Communications Design ’79, professor of undergraduate communications design, and Kadir Nelson, BFA Communications Design ’96. Tim O’Brien, adjunct professor of undergraduate communications design, was also honored this year. (Society of Illustrators)
This past summer, Pratt’s Communications Design departments—led by Undergraduate Chair Meta Newhouse and Graduate Chair Gaia Hwang—and the Department of Exhibitions presented the alumni exhibition Process in Practice at Pratt Manhattan Gallery. The show ran from June 27 through September 6, 2025. Curated by Ginger Gregg Duggan and Judith Hoos Fox of c2-curatorsquared, with exhibition design by Aryn Beitz, MFA Communications Design ’16, Process in Practice showcased designers’ work and processes, “highlighting the multiple paths a design practice can take.” Featured designers included undergraduate communications design alumni Kadir Nelson ’96; Beatriz Gutiérrez Hernandez ’17; Vincent Drayne ’18; and Partner & Partners’ Devika Sen ’18, Lulu Johnson ’19, and Logan Heffernan ’20 and alumni of graduate communications design Stefan Sagmeister ’98, Anuthin Wongsunkakon ’98, Joseph Cuillier III ’14, Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya ’15, Xinyi Li ’16, David Good ’17, and Snigdha Pamula ’19. The show reflected how alumni practices “cross disciplines and geographies—from public art in New York to storytelling through children’s books in Mexico, and from type innovation in Bangkok to sustainability in publishing and user experience.”
The IW Gallery in Brooklyn hosted a Pratt alumni exhibition, Lineage and Latitude, from May 24 to June 29, 2025. Yedda Ye, MFA Fine Arts ’25, organized the show, developed with Vida Sabbaghi, BFA Theory, Criticism, and History of Art, Design, and Architecture ’11; MS Art and Design Education ’14, founder of the art and design organization COPE NYC and owner of the gallery. The show developed out of a COPE NYC collaboration with Jean Shin, BFA Fine Arts ’94; MS ’96, Adjunct Professor (CCE) of Fine Arts. Lineage and Latitude brought together “18 artists who trace their development through a common academic lineage at Pratt Institute, while forging paths that diverge in intent, form, and sensibility.” The exhibition featured the artists Susan Luss, BFA Fine Arts ’13; Nazli Efe, MFA Fine Arts ’22; Rodrigo Tafur, MFA Fine Arts ’23; Elizabeth Hackenberg, MFA Fine Arts ’24; and MFA Fine Arts ’25 alumni Zakariya Abdul-Qadir, Monique Kevita Edwards, Eric Geithner, Claire Heidinger, Herok, Yeon Jong Jeong, Yerang Moon, Hyun Sun Ohm, Siha Park, Greta Schneider, Aileen Schretzmayer, Avery Schuster, Yedda Ye, and Wei Yuan. (@iwgallery)
Vida Sabbaghi also curated Overlap: Life Tapestries at Gallery 14C in Jersey City, on view from July 12 to September 12, 2025. The exhibition included work by 13 women artists including several with connections to Pratt: alumnae Yerang Moon, MFA Fine Arts ’25, and Jean Shin, BFA Fine Arts ’94; MS ’96, adjunct professor (CCE) of Fine Arts, and Franklin Furnace founder Martha Wilson. Judith Larson, BFA Fine Arts ’25, assisted with the show’s installation.
Olli Toppeta, MSLIS/MA History of Art and Design ’22, and Dylan Kaleikaumaka Hill, MA History of Art and Design ’23, cocurated Exquisite Relations, on view from August 4 to September 27, 2025, in the Rubelle and Norman Schafler Gallery. Spanning painting, sculpture, photography, film, and performance, the exhibition brought together the work of students and recent alumni “who embody the prismatic dimensions and nuanced journeys of LGBTQIA+ individuals and communities,” according to the curatorial text. The alumni highlighted in this presentation were Charlie Shaw, BFA Photography ’22; MSLIS ’25; Danninger Feng, BFA Fine Arts (Painting) ’25; Onur Mavitas, MFA Digital Arts (Interactive Arts) ’25; Robin Theriault, BFA/MA Art and Design Education ’25; Tony Griego, MFA Fine Arts (Painting/Drawing) ’25; and Wei Yuan Chang, MFA Fine Arts (Sculpture) ’25.
1950s
John G. Rombola, Certificate, Illustration ’54, has works on paper and paintings in the Brooklyn Museum collection. His works on paper are being shown through 2025, and his paintings were shown in August 2025. Rombola’s work is also in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cooper Hewitt, Joseph H. Hirshhorn Museum, and The New York Historical Society as well as many private collections. His website is johnrombola.com.
Suzanne Vanderbilt, BID ’55, was featured in GM Authority for her design work at GM. Inspired by a Pratt Institute instructor to pursue automotive design, she joined GM’s Styling Department in 1955. She contributed to iconic GM designs, initially focusing on Chevy instrument panels and later working on Cadillac vehicles, including making early contributions to the Firebird III concept. (GM Authority)
1960s
Fredric D. Pascal, BCE ’63, (aka Rick Pascal) has published two books of short stories inspired by The Twilight Zone, Stephen King fantasies, and the irony of O. Henry. Detour and Next Stop Unknown are both available online in print and ebook formats. Pascal’s career encompassed chemical-plant design and corporate strategic planning, culminating with Pascal owning his own executive search firm.
Robert W. Conn, BCE ’64, has received two prestigious awards: the 2023 Simon Ramo Founders Award from the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the 2025 Vannevar Bush Award from the National Science Foundation. Each award has been given to just one person a year for 60 years. Dr. Conn is a member of the NAE and is only the third person to receive both awards, a singular distinction for a Pratt graduate.
Claire Jeanine Satin, MFA Fine Arts ’68, had an exhibition, Artyping: Typewriter Books, on view from January 31 to April 17, 2025, at Miami-Dade Public Library’s Main Library. The exhibition showcased “sculptural pieces crafted from typewriter components, such as ribbons, spools, and keys, alongside elements from their modern counterparts—computers.”
Glenn Abel, BID ’69, joined the Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation as a flight crew member. This historical and educational organization flies a vintage C-54 Douglas transport to airshows throughout the US. In 2024, they completed 18 missions and flew more than 30 times in an eight-month period. As senior loadmaster, Abel is responsible for plane safety and multiple flight procedures. He is also in charge of design, production, and installation of display components for the only flying museum in the world.
Howard C. Lee, OAA, MRAIC, AIA, BArch ’69, retired from his practice in 2011, as partner emeritus at +VG Architects (The Ventin Group), a 50+ person firm with offices located in Brantford, Toronto, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Lee writes, “My classmate William Gallo, AIA, BArch ’69, recalled recently in Prattfolio the impact of key mentors-educators at Pratt—profs like Salzman, Breger, Gwathmey, and Brill . . . they made an indelible mark to our work and career path as architects and inspired drive for architectural excellence. Particularly Professor Mike Brill: teacher, practitioner, and mentor with an exceptional humor and kindness—the short chubby guy with a fat black crayon in hand . . . by which many ‘labour intensive’ drawings were surgically demolished during critique.”
1970s
Hal (Harold) Bromm, BFA Interior Design ’70, founded Hal Bromm Gallery, Tribeca’s first contemporary art gallery, in 1975. Over the last 50 years, he introduced Rosemarie Castoro, Derek Jarman, and David Wojnarowicz, and presented Keith Haring’s first major gallery exhibition in 1981. Bromm led efforts to preserve Tribeca’s historic character, leading to the area’s success as an adaptive reuse model. In 2025, the gallery celebrates its 50th anniversary with exhibitions and a book, When I Met Hal: The Gallery’s Fifty Years in Tribeca.
Michela Griffo, MFA Fine Arts ’70, had work featured in the exhibition On Education at Amant in Brooklyn. The show ran from March 20 to August 17, 2025. She was also selected as one of three artists to speak in a panel discussion about the exhibition on March 22.
Richard Bettini, BArch ’72; Master of Architecture ’73, has been teaching Revit software since 2023 in Pratt’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies.
Saberah Malik, MID ’72, had work in So It Goes, the summer 2025 exhibition of the Wassaic Project in Wassaic, New York. The works on view comprised six tapestries from Malik’s “Water Water Everywhere” portfolio of aerial images from Pakistan’s 2022 megafloods. Malik’s work is supported in part by a grant from the Rhode Island Council on the Arts, through an appropriation by the Rhode Island General Assembly and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
James G. Phillips, AIA, BArch ’72, founder and managing executive of TPG Architecture, was a recipient of the 2025 Mary Lenox Sheafe Award from the James Lenox House Association (JLHA), which comprises James Lenox House and Carnegie East House, New York City’s not-for-profit independent and enriched living communities for older adults. Phillips was honored for his contributions to JLHA.
George Ranalli, BArch ’72, had his firm’s Blumenthal Renovation of a small lake house in Mount Kisco, New York, featured in the Italian journal The Plan.
José Rodeiro, MFA Fine Arts ’73, had artwork featured on or in a number of publications. His piece Attaché Case, 1986, is on the front cover of poet Paul B. Roth’s book Before the Aftermath (Access Road Studios, 2025). Rodeiro’s bodegón Rubén Darío Azul, Version 2, 2014 is the cover art for Adela Najarro’s book Variations in Blue (Red Hen Press, 2025). Tropical Storm Eta Skirting Pass-A-Grille Beach, 2020, is in the July/August issue of Tampa Bay Magazine.
Mia Wolff, BFA Fine Arts ’73, had a monograph, The Empty Lot, published by Fantagraphics last year. The book features the author’s paintings and a fantastical storyline that involves a portal within the author’s favorite empty lot in Brooklyn. The Empty Lot also includes a conversation between Wolff and famed science fiction author, essayist, and memoirist Samuel R. Delany.
Julie Joslyn (Brown), MPS Art Therapy and Creativity Development ’74, released her 12th album, Cobalt Confidential (Fang Records), with Iconoclast, the internationally acclaimed duo from NYC, composed of Julie Joslyn (alto saxophone, violin, live electronics, vocals) and Leo Ciesa (drums, keyboards, vocals). A review in Black Syrup (Serbia) says: “Blending quasi-jazz with pop-rock and classic melodies, movie-like music with noisy improvisation and fast hardcore, Iconoclast brought their own elegant freakiness to the stage and their show remained unforgettable.”
Amy Ross, BArch ’75, shared a remembrance of her partner, Bob Wilkoff, BArch’75, who passed away on May 21, 2025: Bob was the second of three generations of Pratt graduates. His father, Bill Wilkoff (Industrial Design) and his daughter Kate (Fashion) are also alums. After graduation, Bob returned to his hometown of Washington, DC, where he started Archaeon Architects. Bob practiced for over 40 years and was still working on projects at the time of his death. His work was primarily residential with an emphasis on accessible living—a cause championed by his father, who was instrumental in the development of ADA laws. In addition to his design talents, Bob was known as an amateur photographer, world traveler, avid motorcyclist and musician.
Robert Hooper, BFA Fine Arts ’77, had a painting exhibition, The Prime Numbers, at 65GRAND in Chicago. The show ran from February 28 through April 5, 2025.
Nanette Carter, MFA Fine Arts ’78, also a former Pratt faculty member, had a retrospective exhibition, Nanette Carter: A Question of Balance, at Montclair Art Museum in New Jersey, from February 8 to July 6, 2025. The first museum survey of Carter’s nearly five-decade career included 46 works, from early prints and paintings to recent large-scale collages. The Wexner Center for the Arts at The Ohio State University is holding a solo exhibition of Carter’s work this fall, through January 11, 2026. (Berry Campbell)
Tobi Kahn, MFA Fine Arts ’78, has a painting he made in graduate school at Pratt, from his White Windows series, included as one of 22 works in the permanent collection at The Phillips in Washington, DC.
Beatrice M. Mady, MFA Fine Arts (Painting) ’78, was featured in the exhibition New York Women Abstract Artists at the Sarah Moody Gallery of Art, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. Curated by Vered Lieb, the exhibition ran from February 6 to March 31, 2025. Simultaneously, an extension of New York Women Abstract Artists was showcased at Scott Miller Projects in Birmingham. Mady maintains her studio in Jersey City, where she continues to explore the ideas of abstraction and color in her oil paintings.
1980s
Ian F. Taberner, AIA, BArch ’81, was honored with the Selfless Labor Award from Boston Architectural College (BAC), where he is director of master of architecture thesis. The award is “given to a volunteer in the BAC community who has worked tirelessly for an extended period to advance the College’s mission.” In addition to his work at BAC, Taberner has been a guest juror in Pratt’s School of Architecture attending design reviews since 2004 for Professor Theoharis L. David, FAIA, BArch ’61.
David Weisman, BFA Communications Design ’82, a lifelong DoT (Designer of Things), has recently launched his photography website, urbanspelunking.com, along with the Instagram account @urbanspelunker. His interest in photography spiked during the pandemic. To avoid public transportation, he began biking everywhere and taking photos. Besides working in financial services, Weisman has been a faculty member at the School of Visual Arts, an artist in residence at NISDA, a toy designer in Norway, and a SEGA animator.
Moses Ros, BArch ’83, was the 2025 artist in residence at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, Connecticut, with an exhibition of his artwork in October 2025.
Andrea Ciaston, DA, BFA ’84, has published two art textbooks with Kendall Hunt Publishing. Her art appreciation course text ARTSPEAK released its second edition in 2025, applying the qualitative art analysis methodology she developed during her doctoral research in studio art at New York University to trace foundational visual elements throughout art history for college students. Her second publication, Drawing as Process, similarly approaches drawing as a shared visual language.
Goulda Downer, PhD, BS Nutrition and Dietetics ’84, received the Community Engagement Award from Howard University at its inaugural Excellence in Innovation and Academic Achievement Awards Ceremony. The award is conferred upon a member of the university’s faculty who exemplifies high-level scholarship, commitment to service, and visionary leadership that continues to elevate the institution. The ceremony highlighted the university’s recent Research One (R1) Carnegie Classification, widely considered to be the highest research activity classification among colleges and universities in the United States.
Jacqueline “Jax” Manhoff, BFA Fine Arts ’84, had an exhibition, Passion/Compassion, and book launch at Station5 gallery in Santa Fe. From Manhoff’s bio: “I have been a painter, abstract expressionist, beat poet, henna artist, cartoonist, drag king, and backup singer. But photography is my truest passion. I always write ‘passion/compassion’ on the back of my camera. It’s my lucky charm.”
Lesa Cline-Ransome, BFA Fashion Merchandising ’87, received both a Coretta Scott King Author Honor and a Newbery Honor for her verse novel One Big Open Sky (Holiday House, 2024).
1990s
Carey Jolliffe, BFA Communications Design (Graphic Design) ’91, unveiled the last two volumes in a trilogy of children’s books he wrote and illustrated, titled The Hawaiian Numbers and The Hawaiian Colors (published by Acme Tiki Co.). These are a followup to his first book, The Hawaiian Alphabet. In a description shared by the author, the books feature “a whimsical retro illustration style, dynamic typography, and vibrant color schemes” to help children learn the Hawaiian language. More information can be found at hawaiialphabet.com.
Woong-Sik (Timothy) Chon, MFA Fine Arts (Painting) ’92, with a minor in art history, accepted a new position as director of the Henry Luce III Center for the Arts & Religion at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC, beginning August 1, 2025. “My vision for the interdisciplinary work between the arts and religion began with my Pratt in Venice Study Fellowship during the summer of 1991.”
Jennifer Mariotti, BFA Communications Design ’93, is an award-winning graphic designer and creative director with a successful 30+ year career. She has been a lifelong writer, including articles for school newspapers and local publications, client brochures and sales materials, and countless short stories. This year, Mariotti published her first book, The In-House Graphic Designer’s Survival Guide.
Courtesy of the artist and Jennifer Baahng Gallery
Jaye Moon, MFA Fine Arts ’94, was inducted into the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) Hall of Fame on March 18, 2025. Moon, a NYFA fellow in sculpture in 2009, has been working with Lego bricks to craft Braille paintings since the 1990s. The honoree announcement recognized the impact of her work: “Her Lego Braille paintings clearly demonstrate her innovative approach to accessible art, emphasizing inclusivity and tactile engagement.”
Jean Shin, BFA Fine Arts ’94; MS ’96, Adjunct Professor (CCE) of Fine Arts, has a solo show, Bodies of Knowledge, curated by Sophie Landres, at the Dorsky Museum in New Paltz, New York. The exhibition is on view through December 7, 2025. (artist’s newsletter)
Scott Rummler, MSLIS ’95, published an article about his digital artwork in Leonardo (February 2025, MIT Press). “Scalar Wave Paintings: A New Approach to Postdigital Art” explores Rummler’s works that “look white to the naked eye but take on rapidly changing hues when viewed through a digital camera. . . . The works disrupt the ability of the internet to duplicate aesthetic experiences and change the relationship between image and object that is at the heart of much of aesthetic theory.”
Cesar Santalo, BFA Fine Arts ’95, received the key to the city of Boca Raton, Florida.
David Griffin, MFA Fine Arts ’99, published the book Drawing Music, Marking Time with Bloomsbury Press. Since graduating from Pratt, he has taught at OCAD University in Toronto, Canada, in the Faculty of Fine Art.
Marcelo Minoliti, MPS Design Management ’99, contributed to the book An Endless Journey – Connecting the World: The Story of Corporación América Airports (Oscar Riera Ojeda Publishers). This landmark publication chronicles the evolution of the world’s largest international airport operator, which manages over 50 terminals across Latin America, Asia, and Europe. (Pratt Creative Enterprise Leadership)
Mark Smith, BFA Fine Arts ’99, launched the designer jewelry brand HIDDEN by MARKS, based out of Copenhagen, Denmark.
2000s
Kelly Hsiao, BFA Photography ’00, was awarded first place in the 24th Julia Margaret Cameron Awards in the Professional category, for her image Emergence. An exhibition was held at FotoNostrom gallery in Barcelona in July 2025 featuring a comprehensive display of 20 of Hsiao’s underwater photographs captured in Maui, Hawaii.
Heather Williams, MPS Art Therapy and Creativity Development ’00, had a solo exhibition of her artwork, Safe Passage in Conversation with Her Flowers, at the Karl and Helen Burger Gallery on the campus of Kean University in Union, New Jersey. The show ran from January 21 to May 9, 2025. Williams is assistant chair for clinical training in Pratt’s Creative Arts Therapy Department.
Kathleen Mooney, BFA Film ’01, finished her children’s book About My Brother, with illustrations by fellow alum Todd Oscar Harris, BID ’01. Mooney writes that the nonfiction book is “told from my own 8-year-old perspective as a child with a sibling who has disabilities. I wrote the book to create representation for families like mine and those of some of my students, as a way to build understanding, compassion, and empathy for children like my brother.”
Bret Recor, MID ’01, founder of the design agency BoxClever, worked with Skylight, the digital picture frame company, to design the Skylight Calendar Max, a wall-mountable smart calendar, which was named one of 2024’s best inventions by Time. (@bxclvr)
Erica Shires, BFA Photography ’01, had a solo exhibition at ZiF: Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Bielefeld, Germany. This resulted from a three-month Art/Sci Fellowship in 2023, during which she worked with climate scientists and biologists. Her film Data Ghosts, developed during this fellowship, screened at the Climate Film Festival in New York City, where it won the award for Best Experimental Film. The film was also a finalist for the 2024 Lumen Prize.
Reiko Igarashi, BID ’02, was promoted to associate principal at Skylab Architecture. A LEED AP and NCIDQ-certified professional with 20+ years of experience, Igarashi specializes in experience design in branded environments, contributing to projects like the Serena Williams Building at Nike HQ (LEED Platinum) and Snow Peak North American HQ. In addition to her BID from Pratt, she holds a Master of Architecture from Rice University. In her new role, she leads narrative concept development, ensuring creative consistency across projects.
Chelsea Minola, BFA Interior Design ’02, of the design practice Grain (founded with James Minola), participated in Casa Cork by David Rockwell during Milan Design Week. “The installation celebrates circular design and showcases global makers who are pushing the boundaries of sustainability in the built environment,” Chelsea and James said in their newsletter. “As longtime admirers of cork‘s remarkable properties, we’ve developed a body of work that honors its regenerative nature.” Grain presented furniture from their cork collection at Casa Cork. (Grain newsletter)
Adam Selman, BFA Fashion Design ’04, was tapped to become the executive creative director of Victoria’s Secret. “Dreaming big builds a community and creates a table full of beautiful friends and collaborators. If you’ve ever sat at my table, or invited me to sit at yours—thank you,” Selman shared in an Instagram post about his new role. (@adamselman, Vogue)
Alexandra Amon, BFA Communications Design ’06, starred in the self-produced feature film Eternal, now streaming on Amazon Prime Video in the US. “It’s the first time ever for an Ivorian film to be featured on the global streaming platform and a historic step for my country and myself,” she writes. Amon adds that she started her own production company, ZIV Productions, when she returned to the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, her home country, after graduating from Pratt.
William D. Caballero, BFA Computer Graphics ’06, had his animated short Chilly and Milly named People’s Voice Winner for Best Art Direction-Video in the 2024 Webby Awards. (webbyawards.com)
Little Wing Lee, MS Interior Design ’06, received the 2025 National Design Award for interior design. Lee is founder of the design practice Studio & Projects, whose projects span cultural institutions, like the National Black Theatre in Harlem; commercial, hospitality, and residential spaces; and products. Lee also founded the not-for-profit organization Black Folks in Design. (Cooper Hewitt)
Duke Riley, MFA Fine Arts (Sculpture) ’06, was the Wassaic Project’s 2025 Summer Benefit honoree. “Duke is one of our earliest artists-in-residence, whose work—whether developing intricate scrimshaw pieces out of shoreline trash or piloting a homemade submarine into the path of a cruise ship—has always served as a model for the kind of fearless approach and meticulous craftsmanship we hope to inspire in our artists and our students,” the organization’s codirectors said in the event announcement. (Wassaic Project)
Phoebe Robinson, BFA Writing ’06, is starring as a host on the cooking competition show Clash of the Cookbooks streaming on Roku. (NBC New York)
Nasreen Alkhateeb, BFA Fine Arts ’07, won second place in Getty Images’ awards for creators advancing disability representation. Also, Alkhateeb was cinematographer for She Runs the World, which was selected as first runner up for Best Documentary in the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival Audience Awards. The film premiered at the festival in June. (Getty Images; @sherunstheworldfilm)
Tomasz Kalata, MSLIS ’07, was named one of Library Journal’s Movers and Shakers 2025—Innovators. “Tomasz Kalata is a library data whiz. That wasn’t his original plan, but his ideas have solved many collection issues for New York Public Library (NYPL) and Brooklyn Public Library (BPL). The Polish-born Kalata is responsible for ‘transforming’ BookOps, NYPL and BPL’s shared technical services division, according to nominator Michael Santangelo, BookOps deputy director of collection management.” (Library Journal)
Tiffany Baker, BID ’08, unveiled The Dear Neighbor Project in Brooklyn this April. The public art project promoted public awareness of flooding in Gowanus. (@dearneighborproject)
Rebecca Perez, MS Communications Design ’08, recently launched Tendrils, an art and literary journal focused on trauma. The premiere issue, “Trauma and the Body,” is a curated collection of 60+ artworks and short-form literature from US-based artists and writers. Each work explores how trauma manifests, transforms, and is held inside us. Tendrils is dedicated to fostering healing and sparking conversations around trauma.
2010s
Meaghan Barry, BFA Communications Design ’10, celebrated the publication of Designing for Local Communities: A guide to empowering groups in your neighborhood, published by Bloomsbury in May 2025. “Part of the book is inspired by my experiences while at Pratt, taking a Freelancing and Business class in the Communications Design Department with then department chair Kathleen Creighton and faculty member Jon Weiman (they receive a thanks in the acknowledgments of the book).”
Jesi Bender, MSLIS ’11, had a new book, Child of Light, published in August. The novel is experimental historical fiction about the intersection of electricity and spiritualism in 1890s Utica, New York. While set over a hundred years ago, the story, told through the eyes of a 13-year-old girl, reflects issues we face today, including: mental health, sexuality, race, and gender. This is Bender’s fourth book, and she also helms KERNPUNKT Press, a home for experimental writing.
Adrian Volz, BFA Communications Design (Graphic Design) ’11, shared that the Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District, selected his mark to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Libby Dam in Libby, Montana. Volz writes, “My design honors the decades of hard work that the Army Corps devoted to this monumental project. In addition to recognizing the many impactful contributions of this dam to society (flood control, water storage, and hydroelectric power), the logo incorporates a special homage to the Kootenai People.”
Andy Martinez, BFA Film ’13, creator of the bespoke shoe brand &e, had his work and routine as a sneaker designer highlighted in The New York Times: Martinez “studied cartooning and film at Pratt Institute and found himself surrounded by fashionable people. Soon, they saw his shoes and wanted a pair of their own. His business snowballed online, and he has sold his shoes to celebrities, including the music artists SZA, Doechii, Don Toliver, Jessie Murph and Theophilus London, and the Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James.” (The New York Times)
Mark Fingerhut, BFA Digital Arts ’15, was featured in Artnet News in a review of his “4D software poem,” Halcyon.exe: The Ride. The work was on view at Rhizome’s exhibition Rhizome World at WSA in New York City. Art critic Ben Davis writes: “It feels like watching a fun new genre of art boot up and come to confident life.” (Artnet News)
Alaa Tarabzouni, MArch ’15, is part of the design collective that created the exhibition Good Water for the London Design Biennale 2025, commissioned by Saudi Arabia’s Architecture and Design Commission. (Financial Post)
Claire LeDoyen, BFA Writing ’16, had their first book, the word you were looking for, published by Plan B Press.
Izzy Nova, BFA Fine Arts (Drawing) ’16, curated the exhibition Indiosyncratic Identities at Tabla Rasa Gallery, which another Pratt alum, Audrey Frank Anastasi, directs in Brooklyn. The exhibition ran from May 8 to May 30, 2025, celebrating the gallery’s 20th anniversary.
Vardhan Mehta, BArch ’18, cofounder and CEO of Acelab, an AI-powered platform used to streamline construction product research and workflows, was recently highlighted on the 2025 Forbes 30 Under 30 list for manufacturing and industry. (Forbes)
Yiyao Tang, BFA Interior Design ’18, was included in the group exhibition Rich Land, Poor Land at Carriage Trade in New York City. The exhibition examined the politics of landscape and expropriation, referencing Stuart Chase’s depression-era land use study Rich Land, Poor Land. The show features work by artists including Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, Nancy Holt and Robert Smithson, and Michael Ashkin, among others.
J Yang, BFA Communications Design ’18, illustrated the cover for the YA novel The Queen Bees of Tybee County, published by HarperCollins in April 2025.
Aarushi Agni, MFA Writing ’19, was featured in Time Out New York for her solo show EMOJI: The Hieroglyphs of Our Time, or how I learned to stop worrying and send the risky text . The show, which was part of the New York City Fringe 2025 festival in April, is a “sharp and funny mix of music, comedy and multimedia explores risky texts, emoji semiotics, and how we navigate love, longing and global crises through connections both digital and deeply human.” (Time Out)
Ahchipaptunhe (David L. Haff), BID ’19, an enrolled member of the Delaware Tribe of Indians, indigenous people of Lenapehoking, has work on view at Gracie Mansion in New York City this year, in advance of the upcoming 400th anniversary, in 2026, of the Dutch settling in Manahatta (present-day Manhattan). Ahchipaptunhe has also recently shown paintings and sculptures at Arizona State University and in Santa Fe and Scottsdale, Arizona, with a two-person show at the Scottsdale Civic Center coming in January 2026.
Momo Huang, MPS Design Management ’19, cofounder of Asian Creative Foundation, hosted Social Impact Hackathon, an event cosponsored by Pratt Creative Enterprise Leadership at Pratt Manhattan Campus on May 23 and 24, 2025. Asian Creative Foundation aims to build a community to support the next generation of Asian creatives in their journey to achieve and sustain their dreams.
Jungwon Phee, BFA Fine Arts ’19, had a solo exhibition, Ma, at Gallery Hayashi in Tokyo, from February 22 to March 22, 2025. It was the first international show for Phee, who is based in Seoul and New York City. Phee also had work in the group show New Indépendant: Crossword from June 20 to July 27 at Yangpyeong Museum in South Korea, part of its emerging-artist development program, New Indépendant. Phee was among seven artists selected for the program.
2020s
Rob Redding, MFA Fine Arts ’22, was featured in Upscale Magazine, in the company of fellow February/March-issue feature subjects including MC Lyte and Simone Biles. The article highlights Redding’s artwork The Racist, which was prominently featured in his thesis show at Pratt in 2022.
Kathrine Cays, MPS Art Therapy and Creativity Development ’23, is a Nature-Assisted Expressive Arts Therapist and founder of Teleios Studios, LLC. Now pursuing a PhD in Transdisciplinary Leadership and Creativity for Sustainability at the University of Vermont, her work centers on reconnecting human and more-than-human systems through the arts, imagination, and altruistic love. Cays facilitates therapeutic workshops rooted in creativity, ecological awareness, and care, continually exploring transformative mechanisms to foster healing across clinical, community, and natural settings.
Gina Kim, MFA Communications Design ’23, writes: “As a proud alumna of the Communications Design program, I wanted to express my heartfelt gratitude to Pratt Institute for laying the foundation of my creative journey. I’m thrilled to share that I was recently featured in Forbes, highlighting my work as an internationally active art director and AI-driven visual storyteller. This recognition is a meaningful milestone in my career, and it would not have been possible without the education, inspiration, and community I received at Pratt.”
Sarena Wu, BFA Interior Design ’23, shared on LinkedIn: “I never thought I’d say this, but . . . I actually built my thesis in real life.” Wu’s thesis, developed with Visiting Associate Professor of Interior Design Brendan Moran, explored how urban environments could be designed to promote a sense of calm. A year later, she brought that vision to life in Taipei, collaborating with a developer to realize her concept—featuring curved walls, circular ceilings, and seamless transitions between indoor and outdoor spaces.
Hins Zuo, MFA Communications Design ’23, was art director and experiential designer for Cafeao, the concept cafe project of streetwear-brand founder Edison Chen. Designed to connect coffee, fashion, community, and arts, the cafe opened in Taipei in March. “This project is the extension of my grad-school research. It showcases my learning of graphic design, experiential design, ethnographic research, and more”—including a belief in “no limitations as a cross-disciplinary visual communicator” shared by professors and peers, Zuo writes.
Rachel Handlin, MFA Photography ’24, had her first solo exhibition, strangers are friends I haven’t met yet, at White Columns in Manhattan last fall. The show “aligns autobiographical works with her ongoing photographic documentary project in which she travels across the world to meet other individuals with Down syndrome who have also earned a college degree,” according to a press release. The New York Times featured Handlin in a profile on the occasion of the exhibition. (White Columns)
Yunyu Huang, Yirong Zhang, Yushu Zhuang, and Ziyan Wu, all BFA Interior Design ’24, won the People’s Choice Award at the Accor Design Awards 2024 for their project Sofitel Shanghai: The Light Beyond. (@accor_design)
Ananda Ray, BFA Digital Arts ’24, was a panelist on the Apollo Theater’s AI/AR career panel Beyond the Algorithm in May. (Apollo Theater)
Neel Soni, BFA Film ’24, was longlisted for the 2025 BAFTA Student Awards for his film Babli by Night. “The film follows the story of Babban, a Muslim, transgender forest guard battling societal as well as familial indifference, seeking solace among nature, and grappling with an unexpected HIV diagnosis,” Soni wrote on Instagram. “I wanted to try and create understanding and empowerment in regions where they are greatly needed, revealing the sanctuary that nature provides to those ostracised by society.”
Xiangjie Rebecca Wu, MFA Fine Arts ’24, was highlighted by Artsy as an “artist on our radar” in December 2024. Last year, Wu exhibited paintings in a duo show with Mason Hunt at 1969 Gallery in Manhattan and in the group show Dream Archives at Eleventh Hour Art in Brooklyn. (Artsy)
Dillon Bencivengo, MArch ’25, began a full-time role as a junior designer at Hill West Architects in June.
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.” (@prattfinearts)
Siwoo Kim, BFA Film ’25, was accepted into the 2025 Sundance Institute Ignite X Adobe Fellowship. The fellowship, which is awarded to 10 emerging filmmakers, “identifies and supports new voices and talent from the next generation of filmmakers and fosters fresh audiences for independent storytelling.” (@sundanceorg)
Submission guidelines:
Pratt alumni, we want to know what you’re up to, and so do your fellow graduates. Send your updates on work and life to classnotes@pratt.edu. Notes may be up to 75 words in length. Please include your full name, degree or program, and graduation year. Submissions will be edited for length, clarity, and style. Image submissions should be high resolution (300 dpi at 5 x 7 inches).
Images courtesy of alumni unless otherwise noted.