Towering Obsession: Cooper’s Water Tank Wonders Back on Tour

You won’t see any water towers rising above buildings in painter Sophie Cooper’s Montecito neighborhood on East Mountain Drive near Westmont College, nor anywhere in Montecito for that matter. But you will find paintings of scores of antiquated wooden tanks – which New York City required of all buildings higher than six stories starting in the 19th century – hanging on the walls of Cooper’s art studio this Labor Day weekend, when the space will be open to the public as part of the 23rd annual Santa Barbara Studio Artists (SBSA) Open Studios Tour.

Cooper has been featuring at least one water tank atop high-rise buildings in the city in all of her urban landscape works for more than a decade. Over the years, the structures have become an unlikely focus for the oil painter, who regularly exhibits at 10 West Gallery downtown.

It wasn’t always that way.

Cooper grew up in the French Alps, and for many years she dedicated her time to plein air landscapes of the mountain scenery and, later, the Southern California coast. Her transition to scenes dominated by architectural structures began with her series of Southern California piers, including the one at Goleta Beach, as she found herself drawn to the juxtaposition of angular man-made lines amid the ocean vastness.

“But then I needed a change,” Cooper recalled. “I was just stuck.”

A visit to New York City to get her daughter settled in college proved just the ticket.

“As soon as I saw my first water tank, I knew that was my new subject,” Cooper said. “I was completely pulled by the often big, round structures sitting on top of these little stands. It’s a very old technology and they look obsolete, but they’re actually still used nowadays, even on top of contemporary buildings. I love the contrast of the round form and the solid buildings below them that are made of metal or steel.”

Cooper’s paintings are immediately recognizable, with each featuring at least one water tower, often dominating the scene or a tiny item off in the distance. What’s remarkable is that despite their similarities, each work has its own personality and a sense of rhythm or energy that sets it apart, often evoking a sense of longing and even awe. She’s painted hundreds of them by now, but her fascination with the structures hasn’t waned, just as the tanks exist to make sure residents of the top floors of the buildings receive water pressure just as those closer to the ground do. They continue to captivate her imagination just as they do for fans of her work.

“I’m still obsessed with them,” she said. “People are asking me when I will change my subject again. But I am just not ready. There’s still so much to explore.”

Cooper will be participating in the SBSA tour for the first time since 2019, as the pandemic, travel, and construction at her house kept her away for half a decade. But she’s excited to once again welcome visitors to her home studio.

“I really enjoy it,” she said, “It feels very special.”

Tour attendees will be able to see a number of examples from the Water Tank series both on the walls and in a bin, but may also take a look at one the artist has just begun to work on.

“They can see how I start my paintings, working from the photographs I take on my annual visit to New York,” she explained. “I start with painting in acrylic before covering the base coat with oil.”

Cooper said she is happy to discuss her process with visitors, which was a revelation to the artist when she first joined SBSA and participated in her first open studios tour.

“I was surprised because I was a bit nervous about it, but it was a lot of fun to share with people who are really interested and enjoy learning. And being on the tour also means I have to get organized in my studio, which is a good thing to do.”

The SBSA’s annual Open Studios Tour is the oldest such event on the Central Coast, and the self-guided event boasts 24 artists located downtown, in the Funk Zone, the foothills, along the coast and out in Goleta. Featured artists for the 2024 tour include Montecito residents Joan Rosenberg-Dent, an abstract porcelain sculptor, and landscape oil painter Dorene White, plus Misa Art (metal, wood, acrylic), Stan Evenson (pop realism paintings), Kevin Gleason (plein air landscapes), Laurie MacMillan (abstract oils) and Francis Scorzelli (contemporary abstracts). New SBSA members participating in the tour include Anne Anderson (landscapes), Sophia Beccue (abstract in acrylic mixed media and watercolor), Kathy Leader (mixed media), Veronica Walmsley (assemblage, collage, and paintings) and Brian Woolford (oil paintings on recycled canvas and tissue paper).

The opening reception on Friday, Aug. 30, at the Community Arts Workshop, 631 Garden St., features a single work from each of the artists and tour maps to help plan your visits.

SBSA donates a portion of tour ticket sales to a local nonprofit. This year’s beneficiary is the Grace Fisher Foundation, founded by its namesake who as a high school senior suddenly became paralyzed from the neck down by acute flaccid myelitis. Fisher credits the music therapy and adaptive art she undertook as part of her rehabilitation with helping her heal her mind and soul. Her foundation’s mission is to connect people living with disabilities to music, art, dance, and other forms of artistic expression through programs such as the Inclusive Arts Clubhouse in La Cumbre Plaza.

Visit www.SantaBarbaraStudioArtists.com for tickets and more details.