We were delighted to celebrate the 35th Anniversary of Pratt in Venice with the opening of the 35th Anniversary Exhibition on Monday, October 21, 2019!

Pratt Institute President Frances Bronet welcomed a packed house of alumni, students, faculty, staff, and friends of the program to celebrate 35 successful years of bringing the practice of art and its study together in La Serenissima. In addition to visual work and research from 2019 Pratt in Venice participants, this year's exhibition featured work by Pratt in Venice alumni since 1984. The exhibition featured over one-hundred works of art in all media – painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, fashion, photography, film, and animation – as well as a documentary film, Infinite Jest by Wenlu Bao, documenting the pendant celebratory exhibition held in Venice in Summer 2019. A Study Center at the heart of the suite of galleries included the many books, articles, theses, and research posters produced as a result of participation in Pratt in Venice. Multiple photographs and testimonials by students, faculty, and friends, taken since the program’s beginning 35 years ago, were exhibited – both in print and via a Kodak slide carousel. The exhibition also honored current and former faculty, including exhibited work by Chris Wright, Greg Drasler, Mario Naves, Joe Stauber, and Grayson Cox, as well as the late Richards Ruben, Clare Romano, and John Ross.

A packed house and lots of celebration characterized the opening. In welcoming remarks, Pratt in Venice Director Diana Gisolfi thanked the students, staff, alumni, and collaborators for their support of the program over 35 years. Pratt Institute President Francis Bronet, in turn, honored the hard work of Diana Gisolfi, toasting her success and presenting her with a gift from the Institute in appreciation of her leadership of the program since its beginning. Multiple testimonials, including from Fine Arts chair Jane South, alumni Susan Luss (PiV ‘10), Safiye Şentürk (PiV ‘17), Anne Murray (PIV ‘94), Nick LaPole (PiV ‘17), and Art History Professor Joseph Kopta (PiV ‘07) praised Gisolfi’s leadership, PiV’s importance for their careers, and the value of the program.

The exhibition was on view in Steuben Gallery through November 1, 2019, and was free and open to the public. A silent auction of work on exhibit to support the Pratt in Venice Scholarship Fund took place during the run of the exhibition.

Steuben Gallery
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn Campus
200 Willoughby Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11205

October 21––November 1, 2019

All photographs by Jacob Grumulaitis for Pratt Institute and Angela Conant, unless otherwise noted.