Package Design Gala Benefitting Marc Rosen Scholarship Fund Honors P&G Prestige

From Left: Rorke Greene (M.S. Comm-D '10); Ashley Culver (M.S. Comm-D '10); Chair of Graduate Communications Design Jeff Bellantoni; Dean of School of Art and Design Concetta M. Stewart; Pratt Trustee and faculty member Marc Rosen (M.F.A. '70); Karen Salomon (M.S. Comm-D '10); and graduate Communications Design student Joo Hyung Jin at the 2011 Pratt Institute and Luxe Pack Art of Packaging Award Gala.

This year’s annual Pratt Institute and Luxe Pack Art of Packaging Award Gala honored P&G Prestige for its outstanding commitment to package design. Sumit Bhasin, global leader of innovation, P&G Prestige Products, accepted the 2011 award on behalf of the company from Nathalie Grosdidier, executive director, Luxe Pack. Special Correspondent to Vanity Fair Amy Fine Collins hosted this year’s gala on May 17. About 250 people attended.

The 2011 Marc Rosen Scholarship winners were Ashley Culver (M.S. ’10) of Omaha, Nebraska; Rorke Greene (M.S. ’10) of Scottdale, Pennsylvania; Joo Hyung Jin (M.S. ’12) of Seoul, Korea; and Karen Salomon (M.S. ’10) of Miami, Florida. Each winner's fragrance package design work was on display in the lobby of the event venue.

From Left: Karen Salomon (M.S. Comm-D '10) stands with her packaging design; Rorke Greene (M.S. Comm-D '10) stands with his packaging design.

The annual Art of Packaging Award Gala—which has brought in more than $3.5 million over the past 22 years—supports the Marc Rosen Scholarship and Education Fund for Packaging by Design and raises funds for scholarships for graduating package design students at Pratt. The Marc Rosen Scholarship and Education Fund for Packaging by Design is the only scholarship in the world available to college students looking to pursue careers in cosmetics and package design. Each year, the scholarship is supported by the cosmetic industry at The Art of Packaging Award Gala, an event that attracts the top-tier of New York City’s multi-billion dollar cosmetics industry. At Pratt, Rosen teaches a course on cosmetic and fragrance package design, which is the only one of its kind in the world.

Photos: Patrick McMullan Company

Digital Prints by Pratt Alumni on Display at D&D Building

Left: Olivia Gulin (B.F.A. Communications Design/Illustration, '10), Winter Break, 2010; Right: Nick Pedersen (M.F.A. Digital Arts, '11), UntitledOn June 7, Pratt Institute and Charles S. Cohen, president and owner of the Decoration & Design (D&D) Building at 979 Third Avenue, unveiled to more than 300 guests an exhibition of 60 digital prints by 15 alumni artists from Pratt's renowned digital arts, photography, and illustration programs. The work will be on display through June 2013.

The D&D Building is New York City's premier showroom space and resource for residential and business interior furnishings and materials. Charles Cohen sponsored the exhibition, which is in the common space between the D&D Building's 120 showrooms and includes the end walls of 31 landings in the building. 

Curated by Assistant Director of Exhibitions Jen Osborne, the exhibition features prints on display in the common space between the D&D Building’s 120 showrooms by the following Pratt alumni artists: Leah Brizard (B.F.A. '10), Colleen Caporal (M.F.A. '11), Nadine Donath (M.F.A. '10), Katrina Eugenia, Jessica Flon (B.F.A. '10), Olivia Gulin (B.F.A. '10), Elizabeth Latten (B.F.A. '10), Melissa Ling (B.F.A. '10), Bianca LoRegio (B.F.A. '10), Sydney McCaslin (B.F.A. '11), Michelle C. Muzyka (M.F.A. '11), Tory Novikova (B.F.A. '10), Natasha Otrakji (B.F.A. '10), Nick Pedersen (M.F.A. '11), and Samantha Spagnuolo (B.F.A. '10). 

Editioned, signed, and archival copies of the displayed works will be made available for purchase by Pratt Institute's Department of Exhibitions.  

Public gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 9 AM through 5 PM.

As part of his commitment to support up-and-coming talent, Cohen and the D&D Building Company also provide scholarships to undergraduate interior design students who are in their junior year at Pratt Institute. Established in 2007, the D&D Building Company Interior Design Term Scholarship has already provided valuable support for 11 Pratt interior design students, allowng them to achive their creative potential by giving them the opportunity to study in Pratt's leading Interior Design department.

Photos: Courtesy of the artists

Construction and Facilities Management Scholarships Awarded at Annual Reception

From Left: graduate Facilities Management student Pilar Londono-Cortes; Construction Management student Norman Chan; graduate Facilities Management student Luis Marcial; Professor Harriet Markis; graduate Facilities Management student Jose Loren; Construction Management student Salvatore Gambino; and Construction Management student Joseph Montebello on the terrace of Buro Happold.

Every May, Pratt’s Construction and Facilities Management department (part of the School of Architecture) concludes the academic year with a reception generously hosted by an industry firm to celebrate scholarships awarded to students. 

This year’s reception on May 18 was hosted by Buro Happold, an international engineering consultancy with a global presence, which provided the venue and refreshments. Cristobal Correa, associate principal at Buro Happold, made a presentation on “Scale = 1: 10: 100,” using the firm’s projects around the world as examples of what makes the firm special.

The celebration provides a networking opportunity for students, and nearly 100 industry professionals showed up to meet and mingle while enjoying the view of lower Manhattan from the 23rd floor outdoor terrace of Buro Happold’s Broadway office. The event was organized by Visiting Professor Diane Kaufman Fredette, the former department chair who initiated the event during her tenure in office (2004–2007).

A highlight of the evening was the announcement of scholarship awards by Professor Harriet Markis, the Construction and Facilities department chair. Pratt’s James W. Atkinson Memorial Scholarships were awarded to Facilities Management (FM) graduate students Kam C. Chang, Pilar Londono-Cortes, Jose Loren, and Luis Marcial, who are pursuing the master of science degree. Construction Management rising seniors Salvatore Gambino and Joseph Montebello, who are pursing the bachelor of science degree, were awarded the Edward D. Re, Jr. Endowed Scholarship and the Goodstein Development Corporation Scholarship in Honor of Florence and Jack Goodstein, respectively. 

To add to the excitement, Construction Management student Salvatore Gambino emerged as the evening’s big winner: He successfully competed for two additional awards outside of Pratt and won them both. The Retail Contractors Association's scholarship was presented by Jonathan Ratner, representing Richter + Ratner, and The Construction Management Association of America Metro Section of New York and New Jersey scholarship was presented by Isaac F. Washington, the association’s former director of student scholarships.

Photo: Nina Vo

Renaissance Society Reception Hosted by Alumna Laura Bohn

From Left: Kenneth Patton, Patricia Stokes, and David Saylor, members of the Renaissance Society, Pratt’s recognition society for its planned gift donors, enjoy a reception at the home of Interior Design alumna Laura Bohn (B.F.A. '77).Pratt Institute held a special reception on June 8 in New York City to recognize planned giving donors. The event was hosted by Interior Design alumna Laura Bohn (B.F.A. ’77) in her home on West 14th Street, which she designed with her husband, developer Richard Fiore. President Thomas F. Schutte thanked Renaissance Society members whose planned gifts help to provide for the long-term growth and achievements of the Institute and its students.

To learn more about planned giving at Pratt, visit www.pratt.edu/planned_giving or call Janet Kashuba at 718-399-4296.

Photo: Janet Kashuba

Leadership Society Donors Treated to Private Tour at The Met

Leadership Society donors gathered at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on the evening of May 20 for a private tour through Richard Serra Drawing: A Retrospective.

Two years ago, the renowned sculptor was awarded a doctoral degree in fine arts at Pratt’s Commencement. This first retrospective of Serra’s drawings traces the last 40 years of his activity with this medium—both as an independent art form and as an element of his sculptural practice. The exhibition is on view through August 28.

The exhibition’s curator, Magdalena Dabrowski, gave a private gallery talk for Leadership Society supporters, sharing stories about the complex installation process and the decisions that determined which works to showcase.

Dabrowski, who is special consultant to the museum’s Department of Nineteenth Century, Modern, and Contemporary Art, spoke in detail about what went on behind the scenes, from the building of the exhibition walls to Serra’s creation of a site-specific large-scale drawing conceived specifically for the exhibition.

The group was very impressed to learn details about Serra’s process of working with paintsticks, and enjoyed getting a close look at the work and seeing the complex texture of the drawings. Dabrowski also shared her insights regarding how each piece in the show has a critical relationship with the walls and the space of the room itself, which seemed to be of particular interest to the architects in the group.

“It was a very special evening,” said alumnus Martin E. Rich, AIA, LEED AP (B. Arch ’63). “The group was small, the curator was very engaging and knowledgeable, and the exhibition was a treat to see. I was not familiar with this aspect of Serra’s work so it was especially interesting.”

Pratt’s Leadership Societies recognize the Institute’s most generous and loyal supporters. To learn more, visit www.pratt.edu/leadershipsocieties or call Ashley Berger at 718-399-4295.



B.F.A. Painting and Drawing Students Exhibit at Annual Open Studios

Left: (L-R) Daria Souvorova (B.F.A. ’09), Kikki Ghezzi (B.F.A. ’11), and Fine Arts Adjunct Associate Professor Nancy Grimes, take a rest in Ghezzi's Main 6 studio. Both are Grimes’s former junior-year students. Right: (L-R) Alie Spechler, (B.F.A. ’11), her grandmother, and Christine Park, (B.F.A. ’11) pose for a photo in Spechler’s Main 6 Studio.

A sitar player added to the festivities of the Open Studios. A tondo by recent graduate Nick Van Zanten (B.F.A. '11) hangs on the wall.

Pratt’s annual B.F.A. Painting and Drawing Open Studios were held on May 14 in East and Main Halls on Pratt’s Brooklyn campus. This year’s "Select Exhibition" on display from May 14–17 in East Hall Gallery was curated by George Adams, owner and director of George Adams Gallery in New York.

For the first time, this year’s B.F.A. Painting and Drawing Open Studios included the work of junior-year students. “These students will inherit what we started,” said recent graduate Nick Van Zanten (B.F.A. '11), co-president of the Pratt Painting Club. “We have worked hard to make this event worthy of the education Pratt has given us.”

This year’s Open Studios were co-sponsored by the Painting Club and the Drawing Club of Pratt, two student organizations formed earlier this year under the advisement of Fine Arts Adjunct Associate Professors Greg Drasler and Nanette Carter. 

Photo: Courtesy of Catherine Redmond