Pamela J. Cooper began her journey at Seton Hill as a single mother and has since built a career in the arts. Before attending Seton Hill, she earned a technical degree in Fashion Illustration from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. Her skills in design transferred into her fine arts practice. Pamela is an award-winning artist, entrepreneur, educator, and community leader. 

Pamela started her career as a graphic artist at the Tribune-Review. She then worked on layouts and logo design at a local ad agency and for Renie Pollock at Style and Substance Art Gallery. Today, she is the owner of Studio One Creations. Pamela’s art style is figurative with abstract and expressionist influences and she has expressed herself in numerous mediums, creating works in clay, wire, and mixed media. 

She has exhibited in a variety of venues around the Pittsburgh area and Westmoreland County. Pamela has been involved in a variety of teaching programs and workshops. As a member of Women of Visions, a long-standing collective of Black women artists in the Pittsburgh area, she has had her work shown at the University Art Gallery of Pittsburgh and the Carnegie Museum of Art. 

Pamela is also affiliated with the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, Westmoreland Cultural Trust Incubator Arts, the Pittsburgh Watercolor Society, the Society of Sculptors, and the Greensburg Art Center. She had the opportunity to work with Netflix’s art department and Donald Lee Rager teaching children art projects in 2022 for Lee Daniels’ horror movie “The Deliverance,” which is scheduled for release this year.

The Distinguished Alumni Leadership Award is one of the highest honors given to a Seton Hill graduate. Since establishing the award in 1987, Seton Hill has honored more than 300 Setonians as distinguished alumni. The award recognizes leadership in education, business, science and technology, the arts, volunteerism and philanthropy.