© Pace Prints
© Pace Prints

Turrell and Fairey to Receive Pratt Honorary Degrees

Pace Prints favorites James Turrell and Shepard Fairey will be two of the five recipients of the 2015 Pratt Institute honorary degrees. Pratt's 126th Commencement will take place on Friday, May 15 in the main auditorium.

According to Pratt's website, "Shepard Fairey’s honorary degree will be conferred in recognition of his achievements in changing the way people see art and the urban landscape," and Turrell's "will be conferred in recognition of his innovative works that play with perception and the effect of light within a created space. The internationally acclaimed artist began his career in California as one of the leaders of a new group of artists working with light and space, and he has been creating striking pieces for more than four decades."

Pratt alumna Alison Knowles (B.F.A. Illustration ’56); and art influencers Karen Brooks Hopkins, president of the Brooklyn Academy of Music; and Holland Cotter, co-chief art critic and a senior writer at The New York Times; will also be honored.