Betty Cooke, a contemporary artist and jewelry maker, entrepreneur and educator in Baltimore, died Tuesday, after celebrating her centennial birthday in May. She was a former department chair at the Maryland Institute College of Art whose work has been featured in Baltimore’s Walters Art Museum, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and at the now Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

“Betty was an incredibly driven woman,” said Michael Ruddie, manager of The Store LTD, who worked with Cooke for 20 years. “She was doing what she enjoyed and worked very hard to be able to do it. Nobody did this for her. For Betty and her husband, Bill, this was their main focus.”

Born Catherine Elizabeth Cooke on May 5, 1924, in Baltimore, she was the youngest of three siblings. Her mother was a professional singer before getting married, and her father was a clerk with the B&O Railroad.

Cooke’s father introduced her to the arts. They would paint watercolor pictures in the park together and make baskets and pots. He died when Cooke was 12.

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As a Girl Scout, Cooke was exposed to working with different materials. She learned to make jewelry while attending the Maryland Institute College of Art, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in art education in 1946. Cooke became an instructor at the college after graduation.

While working as an apprentice for a local jewelry maker, Cooke found her unique minimalist style, utilizing lines and geometrical shapes.

“Betty Cooke: The Circle and the Line” was an exhibition at the Walters Art Museum and the artist's first major museum retrospective. (Walters Art Museum/Handout)
Betty Cooke's jewelry was on exhibition at the Walters Art Museum from September 2021 through January 2022. It was the first major museum retrospective of the artist's work. (Walters Art Museum/Handout)

In a 2004 oral history interview with the Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Art, Cooke described working as an apprentice at a shop that created ornate flowers. “I always enjoyed it before it was engraved, decorated and embellished,” she said. “I saw the simplicity of it in the beginning, and that’s the way I still am.”

From 1946 until the late 1960s, Cooke taught at MICA, developing a course called Design and Materials. She instructed beginner students on making jewelry and furniture to appeal to students across genders.

At MICA, she met student William C. Steinmetz, who also became an instructor at MICA. They married in 1955 and had one son, Daniel, who died in 1982. Steinmetz died in 2016 of heart disease.

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Betty Cooke and Bill Steinmetz met at the Maryland Institute College of Art. (Maryland Institute College of Art/Handout)

Cooke and Steinmetz opened their boutique, The Store LTD, in 1965 as original tenants of The Village of Cross Keys. The store sold clothing, handbags, home décor and, of course, Cooke’s jewelry. Some of her pieces are still available for purchase at The Store LTD, which has announced plans to close.

“They worked very hard to build the business and to introduce things to Baltimore that they hadn’t seen before in terms of contemporary design and home items,” Ruddie said. “It wasn’t just a matter of finding them and bringing them to the store, but educating people, too, to see things in different way.”

Betty Cooke and Bill Steinmetz were artists who worked together and opened The Store LTD in 1965. (Maryland Institute College of Art/Handout)

In a post on Instagram, The Village of Cross Keys memorialized Cooke: “Betty was a true icon in the world of jewelry design and art and she created a legacy that will live long beyond her time with us.”

The Village of Cross Keys created a giant birthday card to celebrate Cooke’s 100th. It encouraged the community to leave messages for the artist.

Days after her birthday, she told The Banner: “I want to finish everything I’ve started.”

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Baltimore was home to Cooke and her solo exhibitions. MICA was her first in 1995, followed by Goya Contemporary in Baltimore in 2014 and the Walters Art Museum in 2021. But her pieces would find their way into the permanent collections at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and Musée des Arts Décoratifs de Montréal in Canada.

Cooke and Steinmetz worked at MICA until the late 1960s. Their relationship with the college endured well beyond their tenure. In October 2019, Cooke established the William O. Steinmetz Designers-in-Residence program in memory of her husband.

“When attempting to describe Betty, the term ‘tour-de-force’ comes to mind,” said Cecilia McCormick, president of MICA, in a statement. “She was a creative, driven, and extremely forward-thinking artist who earned her place as a seminal figure in American Modernist studio jewelry. There will truly never be another person quite like Betty Cooke.”

MICA is working with Cooke’s family to host a celebration of life. Funeral arrangements have not been announced.