Great Women, Great Music in the Great Hall

In celebration of Women’s History Month, The Cooper Union presented an exhibition in the windows of the colonnade of the Foundation Building spotlighting just a few of the many influential and inspiring women who have brought music, performance, and dialogue to the Great Hall in recent years. 

The colonnade exhibition coincided with An Evening with Patti Smith, a special event featuring the legendary poet, singer, songwriter, fine artist, and New York Times bestselling author as part of the Gardiner Foundation Great Hall Forum series. Smith spoke about her work and pioneering career in conversation with Kit Nicholls, director of The Cooper Union Center for Writing and Learning. 

  • 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.