Adding to the ongoing effort to support and celebrate diversity on campus, the Brooklyn College Art Department is thrilled to announce that Robert Pruitt—a renowned visual artist known for his figurative drawings, sculptures, photography, and animation—is their inaugural Artist/Scholar-In-Residence. As part of this initiative, Pruitt will engage with students and faculty through studio visits and reviews on Tuesday, Oct. 18. He will return on Oct. 20 to informally speak with students in the course “Journey to Wakanda: African Art and Popular Culture.” Campus-wide, public events are being planned for Spring 2023. “This program began through a conversation within the Art Department’s Anti-Racist and Inclusivity Committee,” said Associate Professor of Art Christopher Richards. “The idea was to invite prominent artists and scholars of color to directly interact with our students for a full academic year. We are thrilled to have Robert Pruitt as our first Artist/Scholar-In-Residence, and we look forward to continuing this residency in the future. The department is delighted to support events that can foster such powerful, creative synergies between our students and celebrated artists.” Pruitt’s art practice centers on rendering large scale figurative portraits. He projects into those images a juxtaposing series of symbols and material references, denoting a diverse and radical black past, present, and future. About Robert Pruitt Robert Pruitt has exhibited his work nationally and internationally, most notably at the California African-American Museum, the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, the 2006 Whitney Biennial, and the Studio Museum of Harlem. Pruitt has received numerous awards including the Louis Comfort Tiffany Award, the Joan Mitchell Artist Grant, the Artadia Award, a project grant from the Creative Capital Foundation, and the William H. Johnson Award. His work is included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum Fine Arts Boston, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and many others. He currently lives and works in New York. See a recent exhibit of Pruitt’s art.
