born in whitwell, tennessee, dana jo cooley is an artist and freelance designer who currently works & resides in aripeka, florida. she is a presidential scholarship recipient & graduate of the savannah college of art & design.

dana’s work spans a variety of media and formats, including miniature sculpture, multimedia assemblages, installation, salt paintings, and public art. she exhibits throughout the southeast and abroad, in galleries such as lacoste school (lacoste, france), lyndon house (athens, georgia), the savannah gallery (atlanta, georgia), the red gallery (savannah, georgia) & central booking nyc (brooklyn, new york). recently, the office of cultural affairs in atlanta selected dana to become a member of their curated artist’s registry. dana’s “love shack bus stop” won the athens area art council’s 2009 “you, me and the bus competition.” her winning design will be built as a functioning bus stop in 2010-11. the “love shack bus stop,” is based on a full-scale installation of the “love shack,” commissioned by the savannah college of art & design, 2004.

dana spends most days working in her aripeka studio, a converted schoolhouse built circa 1846. says dana about living and working in the school house: “it’s fitting, i try to learn something new everyday…” by rebecca brantley

photograph by justin evans.