Graduate Digital Arts Students Celebrate New Studio Space Students from Pratt’s Graduate Digital Arts program gathered in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn last month, not to party or to check out the swanky new restaurants and bars in the area, but for a reception to celebrate their move into a loftlike studio space at 20 Jay Street. President Schutte, trustees, department Chair Peter Patchen, and guests joined in the festivities.
“This is the first time in the 20-year history of the department that Pratt’s Graduate Digital Arts students have had dedicated studio spaces of their own,” reported Patchen. “This is something that will change the culture of our department.” The 4,315 square-foot space will temporarily house the studios until Pratt’s new 524 Myrtle Avenue building is completed two years from now.
Patchen told visitors that the loft, which had been raw when it was turned over to the department, had come a long way over the last month. Architect
Richard Scherr, Pratt’s director of Facilities Planning, had drafted a floor plan, and students had rolled up their sleeves to build and paint walls to prepare the
studios for occupancy.
The students, who had previously struggled to work in cramped quarters at home, thanked Trustee David Walentas and spouse Jane, who is his business partner, for their generosity in donating the space, and demonstrated their projects for visitors.
William “Skullmaster” Rahilly, a second-year graduate student, pointed to the colorful still life of masks and fabrics he had spread out on pedestals and on his workbench in preparation for a video shoot. “I’m very excited,” he exclaimed. “This all used to be in a corner in my apartment!”
Ya Chi Peng, also a second-year graduate student, demonstrated her thesis project by doing a percussive flamenco dance that triggered lights and movement in flowerlike objects hung from the ceiling. She sighed with relief at the end of her performance. “It’s great to have space,” Peng said. “Can you imagine me doing this in my kitchen?” (from Gateway, Vol. 18, Num. 12, March 28, 2008)
Project Boo On Halloween, the Department of Digital Arts haunted the Philip Grausman sculptures. DDA Faculty members Melissa Barrett Lundquist, Rob O'Neill and Peter Patchen worked with DDA Emerging Arts Graduate Students Amanda Fisk, Laurie Sumiye and Aaron Cohen.
