The Social Practice CUNY (SPCUNY) initiative, a major program fostering the intersection of art and social justice across the City University of New York’s 25 campuses, will officially sunset in February 2027. Co-directed by artists Chloë Bass and Greg Sholette, the program will conclude following its final 2025–26 fellowship cohort. The decision to end the project stems from the directors' personal transitions, including Sholette’s upcoming retirement and Bass’s shift away from full-time teaching to focus on her studio practice.
Since its 2021 launch with significant backing from the Mellon Foundation, SPCUNY has distributed over $535,000 to 129 fellows, breaking down academic silos by connecting artists with practitioners in fields like social work, public health, and geography. By operating as an artist-run project within a massive institutional framework, the initiative provided a rare model for flexible, direct-to-practitioner funding. Its closure marks the end of a significant experiment in how social practice art is taught, funded, and networked within public higher education.