The Public Art fund has announced that for its 40th anniversary they have sponsored a multi-site installation by renowned artist Ai Weiwei at locations throughout New York City, including The Cooper Union. Entitled Good Fences Make Good Neighbors, the Public Art Fund describes the work as, "inspired by the international migration crisis and tense sociopolitical battles surrounding the issue in the United States and worldwide, the artist has conceived of this ambitious, multi-site project as a way of transforming the metal wire security fence into a powerful artistic symbol." The installations will be on view from October 12 through February 11, 2018.

Early designs for the Cooper Union installation indicate a fence installation in front of the north-facing balcony of the Foundation Building.

“I was an immigrant in New York in the 1980s for ten years and the issue with the migration crisis has been a longtime focus of my practice,” Ai Weiwei says about the work. “The fence has always been a tool in the vocabulary of political landscaping and evokes associations with words like ‘border,’ ‘security,’ and ‘neighbor,’ which are connected to the current global political environment. But what’s important to remember is that while barriers have been used to divide us, as humans we are all the same. Some are more privileged than others, but with that privilege comes a responsibility to do more.”