2026 SPE Annual Conference: Catalyst for Exchange
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print this pageHonored Educator
Debbie Cooke
Friday, November 06 - 6:00PM to 6:30PM
Fine Arts Center
Debbie R. Cooke(1951-2015)
Artist and educator, Debbie R. Cooke has worked for over 40 years in art and photographic education. Born in Florence, South Carolina, Ms. Cooke credits her lifelong interest in art and history, to a childhood spent at the little-known Florence Museum.
She received her undergraduate degree from Winthrop University in 1973 and her M.F.A. from Clemson University in 1989. A former consultant for the Polaroid Education Program, Cooke developed the “Polacollage” technique. She has served as an Artist in Residence with the University of Georgia’s International Studies Program in Cortona, Italy and as Co-Chair of the visual arts department for the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts Summer Program. She taught photography at the Fine Arts Center in Greenville, South Carolina, before retiring in 2011.
Ms. Cooke has received awards and grants from The National Endowment for the Humanities, The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, The South Carolina Arts Commission, The South Carolina State Department of Education, and the South Carolina Art Education Association. She was selected to be a fellow for The Fulbright Memorial Fund in Tokyo, Japan. Her artwork has been featured in magazines and publications, and in 2013 she was selected to be one of the featured artists in the book, Gum Printing and Other Amazing Contact Printing Processes
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