Curated By Katarra LaRae Peterson

The exhibition features works by Elan Cadiz, tasha dougé and Katarra LaRae Peterson

On view: April 25 - May 23, 2026
Opening Reception: Saturday, April 25, 4 - 7pm
Closing Reception: Saturday May 23, 4 - 6pm

In Our Hands, In Our Words: A Conversation with Elan Cadiz, Katarra LaRae Peterson, and a special performance by tasha dougé (Click here to RSVP): Saturday May 16, 4 - 7pm

In Our Hands centers the boundless possibility of agency in tandem with imagination. In a formal sense, these artists' practices are underpinned by their relationship to unorthodox media and a mutual recognition that the primary difference between "object" and "artwork" is contextualization. The work in this show highlights adventurous materiality: mirrors, bedsheets, cotton, kanekalon and more all take on new aesthetic and meaning when viewed through the lens of creativity.

Philosophically, when something is "in our hands," we are endowed with a sense of responsibility. What does it mean to look forward in confidence with an assuredness of your impact? We are all stewards of something, be it land, a bloodline, an inheritance, five dollars at the bodega, a video caption, or a pencil mark across a page. Acknowledging that each of us has agency and power renders us accountable for not only what we choose to make and to do, but also the metaphorical ripples that extend beyond us, from neighbor to neighbor and onward into the future.

In Our Hands speaks to the forward-looking transformative action that results from seeing and engaging with our familiar world from a new perspective. When we apply creativity to our understanding and our behavior, we create beautiful things and arrive at new outcomes, surprising ourselves and modeling the behavior of open-mindedness for generations to come.

On view: May 30 - June 13, 2026
Opening Reception + Panel Talk: Saturday, May 30, 2-6pm (Click here to RSVP for free)
Green Building Workshop: Saturday, June 6, 12-2pm
Closing Reception: Saturday, June 13, 2-6pm

Pratt Undergraduate Architecture Advanced Design Studio, in collaboration with Bronx-based Mothers on the Move (MOM), presents THE AIR WE BREATHE at BronxArtSpace in Hunts Point from May 30-June 13, 2026, sponsored by Pratt Center for Community Development’s Taconic Fellowship.

This exhibition is both a learning space and a public prototype.

It connects community organizing, student design, and material innovation to explore how healthier building materials can support environmental justice, healthy housing, and climate resilience.

Rooted in decades of Bronx-based advocacy for clean air and healthier communities, THE AIR WE BREATHE builds on that legacy by linking neighborhood knowledge with design education and emerging bio-based material systems. Through student work, public storytelling, and research into healthier building futures, the exhibition examines how bio-based materials such as hemp can help reduce toxins, improve indoor air quality, lower carbon emissions, and create pathways for the local green industry.

“You go to Home Depot, you’re just paying, you’re not part of that creative process…But here you can empower people to actually make,’’ envisions Wanda Salman, Executive Director, Mothers on the Move.

Centering the Bronx as both site and leader, the exhibition reflects Pratt SOA’s commitment to socially engaged design pedagogy while asking a bold question:

How can healthier building materials help create healthier homes, neighborhoods, and futures?