4 December 2020
Dear Pratt in Venice Alumni/ae,
This has certainly been a different year. I can’t send pictures of 2020 students on site, but we have found ways to continue to celebrate the 35 years of Pratt in Venice.
This is Giving Week 2020. I am writing now to ask you to support the Pratt in Venice Scholarship Fund, in honor of the program’s 35th anniversary. Contributions from the Pratt in Venice community are important: our alumni/ae help future students enjoy the wonders of our program and its serene setting.
Most recently we held the Pratt in Venice Research Symposium (part of our 35 Years celebration) via Zoom. If you missed it, the video recording is now uploaded on www.prattinvenice.com. The eight presenters were Venice students in years ranging from 1992 to 2019, and their research addressed: a San Marco treasure, gold, Carpaccio’s botany, an early printed history book, Titian’s fresco trick, embroidered fabric techniques, an altered altarpiece, Tintoretto’s theology. I was so happy to see many of you in the big Zoom mosaic of participants!
I hope you have enjoyed the first two of our five videos narrated by faculty; the technical wizardry and elegant design is by Christian Harding, Venice alumnus and office assistant. Painting professor Michael Brennan’s video introduced the series with his meditations on what he has loved about teaching in the Venice Program. And I hope you have received the newsletter launched recently, edited by faculty member Joe Kopta.
The interruptions of activities forced by the global health crisis include our campaign to establish an endowed Pratt in Venice Scholarship Fund. Pratt in Venice now resumes the effort to create an enduring Fund to ensure the ability of gifted students to participate for years to come.
In the midst of tragedy and loss what is better than to help share with others the gift of Venice, the Republic that endured far longer than others and the precious city that carries on with fortitude - a model for us all on this fragile planet?
Wishing you all good health and perseverance,
Diana Gisolfi
Director Pratt in Venice and Professor of Art History
PS. Your tax-deductible contributions to the Pratt in Venice Scholarship Fund can be made online via prattinvenice.com/support-the-program.
