2025 End of Year Show: Photo Gallery from Opening Night

An annual Cooper Union tradition continued this year with the End of Year Show opening on May 28, the eve of the institution’s 165th Commencement. This Cooper-wide exhibition transforms classrooms, galleries, and studios into a public showcase for the next generation of artists, architects, and engineers. The gallery below features some moments from opening night. The show is on view through Sunday, June 15. The exhibition is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday, 12 to 7 pm.

Note: Works by students of the School of Art are identified only by the artist, per tradition. Works from The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture are attributed to the studio in which they were created, with no specific author.

Photos by Argenis Apolinario A’03

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.