Interdisciplinary artist, writer, and Cooper Union School of Art professor Coco Fusco was inducted into the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) Hall of Fame during its 2026 benefit dinner on April 23. The annual event recognizes luminaries in visual, literary, and performing arts.

Fusco was one of three inductees this year alongside artist James Welling and The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). The benefit included a banquet dinner, an awards ceremony, and a silent auction in support of NYFA’s mission to empower artists and cultural workers.

“We are delighted and honored to induct Coco Fusco, James Welling, and The New York State Council on the Arts into the NYFA Hall of Fame,” said NYFA Board Chair Sara Young O’Donnell. “The visionary work of Coco and James inspires us and the steadfast support of the arts by NYSCA sustains us.”

The Cooper Union itself is a beneficiary of NYSCA’s funding for arts and culture. The state agency has made grants in support of the institution every year since 1989, and last year its lifetime giving to Cooper crossed the $1 million mark.

“Coco Fusco and James Welling push boundaries in their work, and in very different ways,” said Michael Royce, CEO of NYFA. “They challenge us to see and think differently.” Past inductees into the NYFA Hall of Fame include Ida Applebroog, Sanford Biggers, Anna Deavere Smith, Terry McMillan, Mira Nair, Lynn Nottage, Suzan-Lori Parks, and Faith Ringgold, among other influential contemporary artists. 

Fusco is a member of the Academy of Arts and Letters and the recipient of numerous awards, including a Guggenheim fellowship, a United States Artists fellowship, a Fulbright fellowship, and a Herb Alpert Award in the Arts. Her performances and videos have been presented in the 56th Venice Biennale, Frieze Special Projects, Basel Unlimited, three Whitney Biennials (2022, 2008, and 1993), and several other international exhibitions. A 2025 survey of her work, entitled Tomorrow, I Will Become an Island, was lauded by The New York Times and other publications as a “must-see” exhibition.