Shine On Exhibition

In conjunction with the Gardiner Foundation Great Hall Forum event, "Shine On: A Concert for Trans Day of Visibility," The Cooper Union celebrates the achievements of Cooper’s transgender, nonbinary, and gender-diverse communities in the Foundation Building's colonnade windows. The exhibition honors all the LGBTQIA+ voices past and present in the fight for equality. 

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

Shine On

 

  • 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.