Betty Cooke (1924-2024) was known for her clean, simple yet sophisticated design aesthetic. Though she worked largely in jewelry, her design career extended to furniture, housewares, accessories, and retail establishments. A life-long resident of Baltimore, she taught design at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) for twenty-two years.

Born Catherine Elizabeth Cooke, she began taking art classes in high school, and then went on to earn her BFA in education at MICA. While in college she took an apprenticeship which introduced her to jewelry making. After graduating in 1946 she was offered a position at MICA to teach jewelry design and later, a course on “Design and Materials” which focused on furniture design. While teaching she met student William Steinmetz, who also graduated from MICA and later became her design partner and in 1955, her husband. That same year they established Cooke and Steinmetz, a design consulting firm, while Cooke continued with her jewelry design. In 1965 Cooke and Steinmetz moved their business from the original Tyson Street location in Baltimore to The Village of Cross Keys. The Store LTD featured Cooke’s jewelry as well as fashion items, handbags, accessories, and home décor, and was still operating at the time of Cooke’s death.

Cooke struck out on her career in the late 1940s at a time when the U.S. was experiencing a “good design revolution” in her words. With a strong influence from European artists who studied in the Bauhaus school and emigrated to the U.S. during World War II, mid-century design focused on clean, organic lines and a simplicity free from embellishment. “My jewelry was and is always strong with design,” Cooke stated in 1996, “clear, simple, architectural…with warmth, movement, surprises and at times play.”

Cooke found early recognition by the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis in the 1948 exhibition “Modern Jewelry Under $50” as well as the 1950 exhibition “Good Design” at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. She was featured in the American Craftsmen’s Educational Council competition “Young Americans” in 1951 and 1953 where she won third prize in the metals category, and both which included an exhibition at America House, the retail shop operated by the Council. She was also a part of the travelling exhibition Designer Craftsmen U.S.A. 1953 sponsored by the Council.  The Maryland Institute College of Art produced a retrospective exhibition of her work in 1995 titled “Design – Jewelry - Betty Cooke”, and most recently the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore launched “Betty Cooke: The Circle and the Line” in 2021.

Betty Cooke received several awards including the De Beers Diamonds Today Award in 1979 and 1981 and the Alumni Medal of Honor from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 1987. She was inducted into the American Craft Council College of Fellows in 1996. Her work can be found in the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Museum of Arts and Design; the Walker Art Center; and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, among others.

An oral history recording of her life and career can be found at the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian.