Four Months After Devastating Fire, Pratt Graduates Display Work Again

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Last February, disaster struck the Pratt Institute community, when a four-alarm fire ripped through the top two floors of the Pratt Institute’s Main Building, destroying painting studios with student work. Thirty-five seniors lost the entire body of work they had produced during four years at Pratt.

After the fire, the students quickly regrouped and, within three months, were able to put on a show in the exclusive Seagram Gallery in Manhattan, The Nabe reported. Now the Westbeth Gallery is a hosting second exhibition, Flameproof II, composed entirely of 44 works of art that 23 Pratt BFA graduate students produced after the fire.

Many of the works allude to the fire, such as “Flamethrower,” an acrylic ink drawing by Juliet Knuth, and two collages by Athena Castillo that incorporate matchsticks and burned strips of canvas. For some artists, the fire also changed how the artists approached their work.

“Before the fire, I was really into organic material,” said Susan Luss, who has three installations using plastic drop cloths in the show. “After the fire, I almost just quit school. Something had been taken from me that was so fundamental.”

But students were able to find new inspiration after the fire.

“Because we were so pressed for time, it freed me up from over-thinking,” said Sally Novak.

She has three works in the show, all paintings created with materials donated from Pratt alumni and art supply stores. She says her paintings, which feature large textural circular shapes, represent a celebratory feeling for her.

“It sounds corny, but it’s like a phoenix rising from the ashes,” Novak said.

“We were close as a group before that, but this experience has bound us together for a long time,” said Luss.