Jeffrey Cook toured the world in his twenties as a dancer before turning his focus to crafting soulful sculpture from cast-off materials. His education began at McDonogh 35 High School in New Orleans’ vibrant though violent Seventh Ward, followed by Xavier University, where he studied art under legendary sculptor John Scott, and then the San Francisco Art Institute. Returning to New Orleans in 1986, Cook pursued painting and sculpture, the medium in which he excelled, producing strong reflections of the African-American experience in works such as Slave Dolls, an assemblage of tattered clothes and string.