ONLINE PROGRAM THROUGH ZOOM

Members’ In-person tour: Betty Cooke: The Circle and the Line

Jo Briggs, Jennie Walters Delano curator of 18th- and 19th-century art at The Walters Art Museum

Betty Cooke: The Circle and the Line is the first major museum retrospective of the Baltimore artist’s work. It explores the themes and expressions in Cooke’s jewelry practice, and spans the period from her earliest designs in the 1940s and ’50s to the present.

Cooke grew up in Baltimore, attending the Maryland Institute College of Art, where she also taught for 22 years. Over the years her jewelry has been featured in Vogue and received two Diamonds Today awards from DeBeers. In 1996 she was made a Fellow of the American Craft Council.

Below the surface of Cooke’s work are deeply personal, witty, and emotional meanings. She is inspired by the natural world, especially animals and birds, as well as kinetic forms, and uses materials as varied as metal tubing, enamel, wood, and gemstones. Cooke’s strong sense of composition underlies all of her work and is based in her conviction that with “a circle and a line, you can make anything.”

Betty Cooke: The Circle and the Line comprises approximately 160 objects drawn from public and private lenders and Cooke’s own collection. It approaches Cooke’s jewelry as individual works of art, and, in relation to the body, as sculpture in motion. In addition to her jewelry, the exhibition includes photography, drawings, and design sketches.

Members-only program, no fee, registration required via the mail-in registration form or by contacting office@artseminargroup.org