Cooper Monument Makers Exhibition Photos

On October 8, 2024, The Cooper Union hosted "Rethinking the Statue of Liberty," a free public program that brought a panel of experts to the Great Hall to re-situate the story of this iconic statue. The event, presented in partnership with the Tenement Museum, featured award-winning actress and playwright Anna Deavere Smith, writer Clint Smith, historian Edward Berenson, and sociologist Nancy Foner. 

In conjunction with the conversation around this important monument, Cooper presented an exhibition in the Foundation Building's colonnade windows, showcasing a selection of monument designers who attended The Cooper Union, spoke in the Great Hall, or both. Though from different eras and backgrounds, all of the featured monument makers found powerful ways to communicate the significance of historic events and figures through their public art.

Gardiner Forum

The exhibition and public program are part of The Cooper Union’s Gardiner Foundation Great Hall Forum series.

  • 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.