After serving 11 years in the U.S. Navy, she completed her studies in film production and an internship with Oscar-winning producer Donna Dewey. In Hollywood, she worked as a sculptor in the demanding special effects industry.
Her latest work, “Communis,” the Gateway sculpture for the city of Thornton, Colorado, is the largest investment bronze sculpture in the state. Renowned wildlife sculptor Kent Ullberg called “Communis” a “tour de force.”
Cooper’s interpretives are part of the private collection of the Leonidas Expeditions, and featured in the American Association of Museums 2008 Exhibition.
Until creating “Communis” for Thornton, Cooper’s largest bronze sculpture was “Seeing the Elephant,” a life-size elephant and miner for the California Trails Museum in Elko, Nevada.
Her paintings and sculptures are included in collections in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
Cooper also teaches Sculpting and Art Business courses at the Sculpture Depot in Loveland, Colorado.
Cooper, a Navy veteran, donated several art bronze sculptures to the U.S. Army’s 172nd Infantry Division, in honor of fallen Iraqi war comrades. At their headquarters in Germany, she was inducted into the 172nd Infantry Division’s Plank Holder’s Mess, only the second civilian to be so honored.
In 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009, Cooper was selected by a panel of international art critics to represent the United States at the International Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary Art in Florence, Italy.
