Keiron de Nobriga (B.F.A. Sculpture ’16) has been named the recipient of the 2015 Charles Pratt Memorial Scholarship, an annual $35,000 award conferred to a third-year undergraduate in a given department. Each year, a new department is chosen to present student projects. Sculpture, in the Department of Fine Arts, stepped into the spotlight this spring.
The Charles Pratt Memorial Scholarship was established by Edmund S. “Ned” Twining III, great-great grandson of Charles Pratt, the founder of Pratt Institute, and grandson of Charles Pratt, president of Pratt Institute from 1937–1953, for whom the scholarship is named. The scholarship is awarded to a student who demonstrates the ideals of the founder of the Institute. On the morning of April 10, presentations by four undergraduate sculpture student finalists were made to members of the Pratt family, Pratt Institute President Thomas F. Schutte, Provost Peter Barna, School of Art Dean Gerry Snyder, and Department of Fine Arts Chair Deborah Bright in the Pratt Library.
This year, the students presented projects that included large-scale concrete installations as well as interactive work that incorporated video clips. De Nobriga was recognized for best artistic achievement through work that captured a personal and artistic journey focused on labor and physical challenges. De Nobriga’s Untitled 3, a project he presented for the scholarship, is a concrete slab weighing one ton. When electrified, the slab vibrates on a set of springs. Nefeli Asariotaki (B.F.A. Sculpture ’16), Wyatt Burns (B.F.A. Sculpture ’16), and Mitchell Charbonneau (B.F.A. Sculpture ’16) were named runners-up, and will each receive $5,000.
Image (L-R): Edmund S. “Ned” Twining III, Keiron de Nobriga (B.F.A. Sculpture ’16), Pratt Institute President Thomas F. Schutte, Department of Fine Arts Chair Deborah Bright (photo: Peter Tannenbaum)