S. Tucker Cooke joined UNC Asheville in 1966 after receiving a MFA from the University of Georgia and B.F.A. from Stetson University. He taught introductory two-dimensional design, all levels of drawing and painting as well as senior level seminars. He was department chair for more than thirty years.
He works primarily with paint and mixed media and strives to create a balance of supposed opposites in his work: balancing the real and the unreal, light and shadow. Cooke has participated in over 21 solo exhibitions and has had his work accepted in over 60 competitive group exhibitions. The Asheville Art Museum hosted a major retrospective of his work in 1976. His work is in the collection of the Hunter Museum, the Mint Museum, and the Asheville Art Museum. UNC Asheville’s S. Tucker Cooke gallery is named for him, and he received an honorary doctorate degree from UNC Asheville in 2018.
Tucker retired in May 2007.
Uffizzi in Bermuda, acrylic on paper and plexiglass, 22.5x31 inches
Centaur Birthing, acrylic on paper, 15.75x12 inches
