Patti Cooprider was a fixture in the San Diego art community for almost thirty years and now her husband, Coop Cooprider, is honoring her memory with an exhibition dedicated to her original works of art and hand-painted abstract expressionist greeting cards… but he needs your help.
“We’re launching a search for Patti’s many friends who saved her cards,” says Cooprider. Patti’s cards were sent across the world, throughout her travels, and showcase her abstract painting.
The tribute event, “Patti’s Spirit Lives! 40 Year Art Retrospective,” is searching for as many of Patti’s hand-painted cards as possible, to borrow for the five-day exhibition. The cards will be carefully displayed on the walls of the Institute of Contemporary Arts San Diego, alongside Patti’s larger works. Cards will be returned to their owners after the close of the show.
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In honor of Patti’s birthday (April 28, 1940), the show will run from April 27 to May 1, 2022. It will span over 5,000 square feet at Balboa Park and feature significant works of contemporary art dating back to 1980, alongside Patti’s own art. Nothing in the show will be for sale and all proceeds and donations will go to the Patti's Spirit Lives! KidsArtEd Fund.
Patti and Coop have been patrons of the San Diego art community since they moved to the area with their family in 1991 after living abroad in Germany for 26 years. She was known around the San Diego community for her “I ♥ ART” vanity plate.
Coop made various art contributions, including reserving 10,000 square feet of space in Balboa Park in 1993 for the San Diego Art Institute, as well as launching the Wolfstein Sculpture Park, according to his Artwork Archive bio.
Coop Cooprider surrounded by Patti's artwork
Patti was passionate about art, earning her bachelor’s degree in art history from the University of Maryland after a lifelong fascination with painting and color, which she explored through her abstract expressionist style canvases and greeting cards.
“When I went to say hello to Erika Torri, director of the Athenaeum, a Patti card was on her desk. When I went to the Cuevas show, now at Tasende Gallery, two of Patti’s cards were attached to the reception desk. When [the] founder of the Wolfstein Sculpture Park at SCRIPPS Memorial Hospital invited me to dinner, Nate Wolfstein’s wife Ralyn said, ‘I have a box full of Patti’s art cards, I kept every one’,” says Coop.
Patti Cooprider
Have a card? Here’s how to include it in the exhibition: Place name, address, contact information on the back of the card. All cards will be returned following the five day exhibition. Event organizer and husband to the late artist, Coop Cooprider, would also love to hear about your personal experiences with Patti.
Send cards to: Coop Cooprider, P.O. Box 927654, San Diego, CA 92192
Photography by: Courtesy of Coop Cooprider
