I arrived at Lane Cooper’s home on a brisk, Tuesday morning. A note on the front door read, ‘in art studio, last building’. I walked through the yard passing metal sculptures of flowers, praying mantis-like creatures, cranes, and the like, following the music & sound of a torch. I stood in the doorway of Lane’s studio watching him braze, afraid to interrupt the creative process & afraid if I startled him he would burn himself. A minute or two passed and he looked up, switched off his equipment, turned down his stereo, and greeted me with a warm smile and a handshake. We toured his studio, yard, and home, all the while him describing different pieces to me and how the ideas had come to him, where they had been displayed, etc. The interview went a little something like this:
Me: I’ve read before that you have been creating art for most of your life. Do you have any formal training and are there any other artists in your family?
Lane: My younger brother paints, I used to paint but no longer have the desire to. My daughter is a nurse but is also artistic. As for training, I had the opportunity to go to art school and never did even though my parents encouraged me to do so. Working for Amway I learned all of my welding skills. I worked for Amway in the maintenance department until I retired at age 66.
Me: What inspires you to create art and how do you keep motivated when things get tough in the studio?
Lane: I suffer from severe headaches due to a closed head injury I got as a result of an automobile accident in 2003. I get discouraged from time to time from the headaches because the ideas change in my head or I simply abandon them.; someday I’ll come back to the vision. The accident and ongoing trauma inspired me to get out and do some artwork. It was at that point that it became very therapeutic. I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel until I started creating more and more things that people were really responding well to.
Me: What other interests do you have outside of creating art?
Lane: Well, I have a street rod that has sat idle for 4 years because my artwork has taken over. I have 4 grandsons that are into football & soccer, that are also my biggest art critics along with my wife. So, I would say art and family.
Me: How long have you been married?
Lane: 35 years
Me: Congratulations!
Lane: Thank you very much! She has been very supportive of all of this and now that the house next door is up for sale she wants us to sell this one and move so that I can have a bigger studio.
Me: What did you learn from participating in ArtPrize last year?
Lane: I didn’t have any media exposure last year and I really think the location was bad because of the construction going on all around us. It made it difficult for people to get to us, even though there were 25 artists exhibiting there together, I feel like we were largely missed. At one point I was standing on the sidewalk, waving people in.
Me: What do you think of ArtPrize as a whole ?
Lane: I love ArtPrize. It is the greatest thing to have happened to Grand Rapids.
Me: Can I quote you on that?
Lane: Please! I commend the DeVos family and hope that other cities will jump on the bandwagon. It has brought so much positivity to Grand Rapids, locally and otherwise. Last year I got an invitation to Italy, he told me they had a lot of junk over there. I am already working on next year’s entry.
Me: This year’s entry, entitled “A View From Above”, is your depiction of a city in transformation. It also seems to speak to the hierarchy found in blue collar jobs. Was that intentional on your part?
Lane: I’ve done all of these jobs, so, yes, I know the relationships between the bosses and the workers. There are 29 “workers” made out of nails and include welders, iron workers, crane operators, and the guy who is always sleeping on the job and is close to getting caught by his supervisor (that guy is not me). The sculpture weighs 300 lbs. and is a combination of scrap metal, bolts, nuts, washers, tubing, wire and other odds and ends. The idea for the bird’s eye view grew from me observing the birds that were flying overhead the construction site as the buildings were growing skyward.
“A View From Above” was seen earlier this year as part of the Legacy Trust and VSA arts competition, which was a statewide showcase of art done by adult artists with disabilities. Lane Cooper, along with two other area artists won high honors. Lane’s piece will be on display at the Civic Theatre and ArtPrize runs from September 22 through October 10.
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