Unique Experiences

Item Description

Unleash your creativity with an afternoon of art! 

Join Michael Coop, Arts & Sciences Board Chair, for a studio experience that will inspire a love for making and appreciating abstract art, and seeking visual inspiration. In addition to creating a unique piece, you will explore some of the elements and principles of design and look back on the history of abstraction, all while further developing your artistic talents. 

Package includes:

• An afternoon for up to 3 kids or adults creating abstract art
• Participants can choose from a selection of canvas sizes
• Afternoon snacks and beverages

Michael's last exhibit, Monotypes and More, was at Pippin Contemporary Fine Art Gallery with Aleta Pippin, Ron Pokrasso and Diane Rolnick in 2014. Since then he had a child with his partner Emily, built a house with a beautiful studio and doubled the size of his company.

Michael earned his BA with honors in Fine Arts from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee in 1978, and his Masters in Art Education in 1983 from Teachers College at Columbia University. Michael also studied painting at the Athens Centre for the Creative Arts (Greece). After fifteen years of life in Manhattan as a college administrator and painter, he moved to Santa Fe in 1993. Michael has regularly shown new bodies of work in alternative art spaces and has exhibited in invitational gallery and Center for Contemporary Art group shows, juried Friends of Contemporary Art shows and more than a dozen Monothon print shows.

Michael founded Coop Consulting, Inc. in 2002, as a small research, planning, facilitation and evaluation firm, which now has a staff of ten. Michael has led the firm in major initiatives in substance abuse and mental health prevention, crisis response, treatment, and recovery, and in overdose prevention; and in early childhood services system development and evaluation. In addition to being a painter, Michael is a jazz and mid-century design fanatic. Michael and his partner, Emily Kaltenbach, have a daughter Geneva, a Stargazer at Arts & Sciences. Michael has been on the board of Arts & Sciences for more than a decade, and has been board chair for about half of that time.

Item Special Note

Can be bought to Make Someone's Day!

Make Someone's Day
You have a superpower! You can Make Someone's Day by purchasing this time for a child who would not otherwise be able to afford an experience like this! If you decide to Make Someone's Day, we will match your donation with a child served by Reading Quest, so that they can enjoy this unique experience. 

Eligible to be a Kid Care Experience!

Kid Care Experience
The donor for this unique experience is open to hosting this experience for children as well as adults. You may purchase this item for your child and their friends. Drop them off and go do what you need to do: replenish and pamper yourself or run errands and check items off your to do list. You can rest assured your child is having an amazing experience on their own!