Claire Louise Cooperstein

Background

Claire Cooperstein was born on October 15, 1923 in Chicago, Illinois, United States. She was a daughter of Gilbert I. Stadeker, an engineer, and Nanette Rosenthal.

Education

During the period from 1939 till 1940, Claire studied at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In 1972, she graduated from Goddard College in Plainfield with Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1988, Claire got Master of Fine Arts degree, graduating from Vermont College of Fine Arts.

She attended Rockland Center for the Arts and Art Student’s League in Woodstock. Cooperstein also studied neon and plastic sculpture at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Career

In 1940, Claire started to work as an advertising writer and designer for Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a post she held until 1941. Since 1941 till 1949 she held a post of a design consultant in New York. During her lifetime, Cooperstein also wrote feature stories, held interviews for local magazines in Rockland County and worked as a substitute editor of "Rockland County Times Newspaper".

When Claire came down with a brain virus, which severely curtailed her verbal skills for a time, she started to make paintings and sculptures. Her artworks were exhibited in many galleries throughout North Carolina and Washington, D.C.

Achievements

• In 1989, Claire won Lamont Hall national chapbook competition for her work "Counting Keepsakes". Also, in 1995, her book "Johanna: A Novel of the van Gogh Family" was nominated for Barnes and Noble’s "Discover Great New Writers" selections.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Johanna 1995

Membership

Claire Louise Cooperstein was a member of North Carolina Poetry Society, North Carolina Haiku Society and North Carolina Writers' Network.

• founding member

  Tri-State Sculptors Association

• North Carolina Poetry Society

• North Carolina Haiku Society

• North Carolina Writers' Network

Personality

Cooperstein collected a notebook of research on nineteenth-century Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh and his family. She loved van Gogh’s paintings since her childhood, and while doing research on the artist, resolved someday to use the material for one of her novels.

Interests

• Artists

  Vincent van Gogh

Connections

Claire married Samuel Cooperstein, a World War II veteran, on June 2, 1946. The marriage produced two children — Nancy (River) and Mark.

Father:

Gilbert I. Stadeker

Mother:

Nanette Rosenthal

child:

Nancy (River) Cooperstein

child:

Mark Cooperstein

husband:

Samuel Cooperstein