Pratt Fine Arts Center is a non-profit arts education and resource center in the Squire Park area of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

's Central District. The center employs 155 teaching artists and conducts more than 600 classes annually. Pratt was founded in 1976 by the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation"History", Pratt Fine Arts Center quarterly class schedule, Winter 2004, p.1. and named in honor of slain

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

leader Edwin T. Pratt."A Lasting Tribute", Pratt Fine Arts Center quarterly class schedule, Winter 2004, p. 1. In 1982 it was turned over to a newly created

501(c)(3) A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...

non-profit, City Art Works. Since then, Pratt has grown into a nearly $3 million annual budget. With an average class size of 6.5 students, the school had 4,335 total class registrations in 2019. Pratt includes facilities for

glassblowing Glassblowing is a glassforming technique that involves inflating molten glass into a bubble (or parison) with the aid of a blowpipe (or blow tube). A person who blows glass is called a ''glassblower'', ''glassmith'', or ''gaffer''. A '' lampworke ...

, lampыЫйьworking, glass beadmaking, flameworked glass, metal sculpture,

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

casting Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or ...

stone carving Stone carving is an activity where pieces of rough natural stone are shaped by the controlled removal of stone. Owing to the permanence of the material, stone work has survived which was created during our prehistory or past time. Work carried ...

jewelry Jewellery (or jewelry in American English) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment such as brooches, ring (jewellery), rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the ...

and metalsmithing,

woodworking Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinetry, furniture making, wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning. History Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked b ...

printmaking Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proces ...

painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

and

drawing Drawing is a Visual arts, visual art that uses an instrument to mark paper or another two-dimensional surface, or a digital representation of such. Traditionally, the instruments used to make a drawing include pencils, crayons, and ink pens, some ...

. The Center has 14 studios across three buildings: the main building in Pratt Park (also named after Edwin Pratt) and two additional buildings in the block immediately south of the park. The latter two were originally part of the adjacent now empty Wonder Bread bakery. Programs include adult and youth education (including free Saturday programs for youth), master artist intensives and visiting artist programs, and studio access programs for working artists."Education Programs", Pratt Fine Arts Center quarterly class schedule, Winter 2004, p.3. In 2019, Pratt served 960 youth and teens through education programs and granted 139 new independent artists access to its studios.

Notes

External links

* * Kristin Dizon
Boys with serious behavioral problems find a creative outlet in glass class
''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'', February 20, 2006 {{coord, 47.6003, -122.3074, type:landmark_region:US-WA, display=title Art museums and galleries in Washington (state) Art schools in Washington (state) Arts organizations established in 1976 Buildings and structures in Central District, Seattle Schools in Seattle Tourist attractions in Seattle 1976 establishments in Washington (state)