End of Year Show 2023: Photos from Opening Night

Each year before Commencement, students from all three schools of The Cooper Union mount an expansive, campus-wide exhibition of their artworks, models, projects, and research. Opening night of the 2023 End of Year Show was on May 23 and welcomed friends, family members, Cooper alumni, and the public to explore student work and celebrate the culmination of the academic year.

These photos are a sampling of the breadth and variety of this year's exhibition. As in past showcases, works from the School of Art are identified by the author; works from The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture are identified by the studio.

Photos by João Enxuto / The Cooper Union unless otherwise noted.

  • 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.