PRATT PROTEST

made a sign to support #bringbackprattshow. it is ridiculous that our administration has decided to cancel this rare chance allowing students to make amazing (and necessary) connections in the industry.

here’s a petition you can sign to show your support: https://www.change.org/p/pratt-institute-administration-objections-to-the-pratt-show-cancellation

My contributing poster for #bringbackprattshow. (For those not too familiar with Pratt’s campus, these are sculptures that sit outside our Main Building.)

UPDATE: Our chances of finding a new venue are now slim to none. Our show is now permanently scheduled to be in our school’s gym, and the administration has begun to take action towards reprimanding those who’ve been fighting for a proper show. It’s disappointing to see that the most productive action they’ve taken thus far is to keep people quiet.

– Right now, our goals are this: more transparency between the administration and faculty/student body, and a visible budget. This cannot happen again to students in the future.

The single biggest problem art education is transitioning into the highly competitive professional world. Talented, highly trained students struggle to find work. They’re young, they’re raw, and even with internships and strong portfolios under their belts they are still at the low end of the totem pole.

I’ve seen this on both ends. As a graduating Communication Design major with a focus in Illustration, I had all the tools to get work. I was well trained, and motivated. It was still very difficult to begin my freelance career without a lot of professional work to show in my portfolio. As a faculty member, I’ve watched students of mine engage in that same struggle, but with a different set of challenges. Navigating the professional world is still difficult for illustrators. Our career path in particular is one which requires us to be constantly seeking out new work, new clients, and self-promoting thorough ever changing media and networking tools. It will never be easy. But the one constant is the people in the industry. If there is one piece of advice I try to instill in every student it’s that personal relationships trump everything else. You can have a 20,000 instagram followers but if none of them are Art Directors you’ve spoken to, you won’t get work.

The best thing Pratt can to aid in this transition into the professional world is to put students in direct contact with professionals so they can begin to build personal relationships. Today’s colder, internet based marketplace only highlights the importance of encouraging personal networking. Many of my colleagues have gone to the Pratt Show to hire Pratt students. Many of those colleagues were Pratt students themselves, and this direct pipelining of students through alumni is one of the biggest reasons to attend an expensive art school.

Our school is taking away a really important exhibition opportunity from its students and we want it back! Please help by reblogging and trending the hashtag #bringbackprattshow

All Pratt students will thank you!

made a sign to support #bringbackprattshow. it is ridiculous that our administration has decided to cancel this rare chance allowing students to make amazing (and necessary) connections in the industry.

here’s a petition you can sign to show your support: https://www.change.org/p/pratt-institute-administration-objections-to-the-pratt-show-cancellation