CUNY Social Practice Initiative to End in 2027 After 5 Years

The cross-campus program founded by artists Chloë Bass and Greg Sholette will sunset in 2027 as the founders shift focus.

Apr. 14, 2026 at 5:54pm

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A brightly colored, high-contrast silkscreen print of a stack of books or a classroom chalkboard, repeated in a tight grid pattern in a vibrant, neon color palette with heavy black outlines, conceptually representing the interdisciplinary nature of the Social Practice CUNY program.The Social Practice CUNY initiative fostered interdisciplinary collaboration and communication around socially engaged art and practice across the CUNY system.Queens Today

The Social Practice CUNY initiative, a cross-campus network launched by artists Chloë Bass and Greg Sholette, will sunset in February 2027 after five years of operation. The decision comes as Bass and Sholette shift their focus, with Bass stepping away from full-time teaching and Sholette retiring. The program provided fellowships to graduate students and faculty across CUNY's 25 campuses and helped foster an interdisciplinary community of socially engaged practitioners.

Why it matters

Social Practice CUNY represented an innovative model for supporting and connecting socially engaged artists and practitioners across different academic disciplines within a large public university system. Its sunset marks the end of an experiment in building cross-campus collaboration and communication around social practice work, though the founders hope the program's legacy and resources will inspire future initiatives.

The details

Launched in 2021 with a $530,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation, Social Practice CUNY awarded $535,000 in direct support to 129 fellows over the past five years. The program also organized workshops and produced a podcast to highlight the work of its fellows, who came from diverse backgrounds including social work, nursing, public health, geography, architecture, performance studies, and art. While the founders had considered formalizing Social Practice CUNY within the CUNY system, those plans did not materialize due to broader challenges facing higher education.

  • Social Practice CUNY launched in 2021.
  • The Mellon Foundation provided $530,000 in initial funding in December 2020.
  • The Mellon Foundation gave the program an additional $600,000 over two years in September 2023.
  • Chloë Bass stepped away from full-time teaching at Queens College at the end of the 2024-25 academic year.
  • Social Practice CUNY will sunset in February 2027, with its 2025-26 fellowship cohort being its last.

The players

Chloë Bass

An artist who co-directed the Social Practice CUNY initiative. She stepped away from full-time teaching at Queens College to focus on her art practice.

Greg Sholette

An artist and professor at Queens College who co-founded the Social Practice CUNY initiative. He retired from teaching.

Mellon Foundation

The foundation that provided $530,000 in initial funding for Social Practice CUNY in 2020 and an additional $600,000 over two years in 2023.

Joshua Brumberg

The president of the CUNY Graduate Center, who supported efforts to formalize Social Practice CUNY within the CUNY system.

Eugene Lang Foundation

The foundation that provided additional funding to Social Practice CUNY after the Mellon Foundation's grants were completed.

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What they’re saying

“I don't think that anybody ever starts with a clear plan to sunset, but nor did I think that this would necessarily institutionalize in a way that would make it exist forever.”

— Chloë Bass, Co-director, Social Practice CUNY

“This was really our dream to get people to talk to each other and create networks of people who were already engaged in this kind of work.”

— Greg Sholette, Co-director, Social Practice CUNY

“The model of Social Practice CUNY—as a nimble, cross disciplinary, supportive, communicative project generator that connects people for both short- and long-term purposes—is what we will need as an organizing model.”

— Chloë Bass, Co-director, Social Practice CUNY

What’s next

The 2025-26 fellowship cohort will be the last for Social Practice CUNY before the program sunsets in February 2027. The founders hope that the program's model, resources, and networks will inspire future initiatives to continue supporting socially engaged art and practice.

The takeaway

Social Practice CUNY represented an innovative approach to fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and communication around socially engaged art and practice within a large public university system. While the program is ending, its legacy points to the ongoing need for flexible, cross-disciplinary models that can connect diverse practitioners working at the intersection of art and social justice.