Location: UCF Art Gallery
Join us for the Closing Reception on Nov. 6 from 6-9pm. This event coincides with Art Knight! 2026.
The UCF Art Gallery is proud to present The Craftsman with Care: an exhibition honoring Larry Cooper.
For nearly three decades, Larry Cooper was an integral part of the creative community at the University of Central Florida, where his work as an artist, master book artist, printmaker, educator, and collaborator shaped generations of students and artists. This exhibition celebrates Larry’s artistic practice and the remarkable legacy he built through a career grounded in craftsmanship, curiosity, collaboration, and a deep understanding of materials and process.
Larry earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art from Memphis College of Art and a Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art from the University of Georgia. He founded Gardyloo Handmade Books in Memphis, Tennessee where he developed his practice in traditional hand bookbinding and book arts. He joined UCF in 1996 as an assistant printmaker and went on to help establish the university’s book arts program, introducing generations of students to the traditions and possibilities of handmade books.
His collaborative contributions helped produce artist books and editions that entered major collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, National Gallery of Art and Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. Larry’s own work is represented in collections including the National Gallery of Art, Library of Congress, J. Paul Getty Museum, Corcoran Gallery of Art and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
The precision and care evident in Larry’s artwork extended throughout his professional life. As an educator, he shared an extraordinary knowledge of bookbinding, printmaking, materials, and making while encouraging students to discover their own relationship to these processes. As assistant director of the UCF Art Gallery, his understanding of materials, attention to detail and creative problem-solving were essential to the realization of countless exhibitions.
This exhibition brings Larry’s work together as both a celebration and remembrance. Through objects made, collaborations fostered, students mentored and knowledge generously shared, his influence extends far beyond any single artwork. Larry’s legacy resides equally in the things he created and in the creative community he helped build—a lasting testament to the value of making, teaching, collaboration and generosity.
Read more about Larry Cooper here: Remembering UCF Gallery Assistant Director, Senior Lecturer Larry Cooper