The Black Alumni of Pratt

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The Black Alumni of Pratt

The Black Alumni of Pratt:: Celebrating, organizing and supporting Pratt students & Alumni.

BAP was founded 1990 to identify and advance scholastic and professional opportunities for Pratt students and alumni of African and Latinx descent. BAP's objective is to advance those opportunities by sharing resources, cultivating an influential network and utilizing professional contacts. Overall, BAP helps promote an understanding of how diversity can better society at large. BAP's mission refl

ects a guiding principal of Pratt Institute's founder Charles Pratt, who said in 1887, "I want to found a school that shall give everybody a chance," And, reflecting Charles Pratt's visionary spirit, within the top 5 art and design school in the United States and Canada, only Pratt Institute has the distinction of having the first Black alumni association.

08/20/2026

MEET THE 2026 BAP PRECOLLEGE SCHOLARS: Darwin Chavarria Mendez, Brianna Nix, and Okalani Logan! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

As recipients of the The Black Alumni of Pratt (BAP) Summer PreCollege Scholarship, Okalani Logan, Darwin Chavarria Mendez, and Brianna Nix lived on campus and took intensive, credit-bearing courses alongside students from around the world. Their work was featured in the annual PreCollege exhibition, marking the culmination of a summer of experimentation and exchange.

During their time on campus, the scholars experienced the rhythms of college life: attending studio classes, navigating the neighborhood, visiting cultural institutions throughout the city, and building friendships with peers and roommates.

Link in bio ⬆️ for full story.

Image and text courtesy of Pratt Communications and Marketing

07/28/2026

LEGENDARY!

05/12/2026

Shoutout to Tomisin Sarumi, BFA 3D Animation & Motion Arts ‘25. Their senior thesis film, “Departing”, was featured in the African Film Festival at Lincoln Center last week.

Big Congratulations .s!!!

05/05/2026

Pratt Alumni, and , were announced this morning as Tony Award nominees, for Best Costume Designer of a Play. Sosa for The Balusters (Best Play nominee) and Tazewell for Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (Best Original Score nominee).

Both artists have had long careers on Broadway, and both have come back to Pratt in recent years to participate in Black Dress Talks.

Let’s wish them well!!!

04/08/2026

THANK YOU to the students and the alumni and industry representatives who came out to support them at BAP’s annual CareerConnect. Students representing animation, architecture, painting and photography shared their portfolios and resumes with representatives from The Animation Project, Animoon, Buro Happold, Devin B. Johnson Studio, Disney, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Spotify, and The Luupe.

CareerConnect is more than a portfolio review. It’s a networking event, learning opportunity, dinner party, and a good time hosted by The Black Alumni of Pratt with the support of the Center for Career and Professional Development.

. . . .t. .

Photos: Dahlia Dandashi pratt.edu/pcomm

03/05/2026

Women’s History is Pratt History!

Meet artist Lilian Thomas Burwell, and see her work at Berry Campbell Gallery through March 14.

Lilian Thomas Burwell was born in 1927 in Washington, D.C., and attended Pratt Institute, where she also did her practice teaching. She earned an MFA from Catholic University in 1975. As a master teacher of art in the public schools of Washington, D.C., she designed the pre-secondary school art curriculum before becoming a member of the visual arts faculty at Duke Ellington School of the Arts. She served as board member of the Smithsonian Institution Renwick Alliance from 1989 to 1992, and the Arlington Arts Centers from 1984 to 1987. She was founding and curatorial director of the Alma Thomas Memorial Gallery and curatorial director of the Sumner Museum and Archives in Washington, D.C., from 1981 to 1984.

In April 2022, Burwell received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Howard University, Washington, D.C. She was honored alongside Betye Saar and Dr. Alvia Wardlaw. Her work was included in Magnetic Fields: Expanding American Abstraction, 1960s to Today, an intergenerational exhibition highlighting 21 Black female abstract practitioners that traveled from Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City to The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C. and the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Florida in 2017 and 2018.

Photo & Text: Courtesy of Berry Campbell Gallery

02/13/2026

BAP Student x Alumni Connection was big fun at the Spring BAP Student Meeting.

Young MFA alums Leslie Trotter & Xin Li came back to campus to share their new collaboration with BAP students. And as a focus group the students did not disappoint! The room was filled with lively, intelligent conversation. It was a great opportunity for all.

Shoutout to VP Vernese Edghill-Walden and CommD Professor, Anthony Williams for stopping by and spending time with the alums.

02/12/2026

BAP Student x Alumni Connection was big fun at the Spring BAP Student Meeting.

Young MFA alums Leslie Trotter & Xin Li came back to campus to share their new collaboration with BAP students. And as a focus group the students did not disappoint! The room was filled with lively, intelligent conversation.
It was a great opportunity for all.

Shoutout to VP Vernese Edghill-Walden and CommD Professor, Anthony Williams for stopping by and spending time with the alums.

11/06/2025

FASHION STUDENTS there are many ways to be in the fashion business. Come learn how from the legendary Freddie Leiba, this Friday at 6:00 PM in Higgins Hall. Free with registration. Use QR code or Link in bio.

10/23/2025

GREATNESS was on campus last night. Architect and author spoke candidly with Dean about her book, GREATNESS: Diverse Designers of Architecture, to an audience of students, alumni, faculty, staff and renowned architects, in Higgins Hall.

Pascale shared insider info on the development of her book, her writing process, her career, and the influence of her Pratt education.

Also in attendance was the leadership and staff of
, co-sponsors of the event with . A lively raffle was held providing copies of GREATNESS to five lucky winners from Gedeon.

Shoutout to architecture student Kylie Grant and Andrew Colarusso of for their amazing support of this event.

Address

200 Willoughby Avenue
New York, NY
11205

Telephone

+17186363479

Website

https://www.pratt.edu/alumni/black-alumni-of-pratt/

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