About Us
“The Bird”
Bluebird Studios offers the perfect place to bring creatives together in the heart of the American West located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where the desert and mountains meet. We are located just 7 miles from the historic Santa Fe Plaza, yet in a country setting of horse ranches and open space. The studio is tucked into the southern edge of the Sangre de Cristo mountains on a sheltered 9-acre horse ranch of rolling hills, arroyos (dry river beds) that are dotted with piñion, juniper, chamisa, and sagebrush just off the Old Santa Fe Trail.
The City Different: Santa Fe
Santa Fe is a 400-year-old city steeped in history and folklore and offering the unique blend of three cultures where the past and the present merge. Several historic sites are just minutes away from the ranch, including the famous Canyon Road, home to over 300 art galleries, National Historic designations of old adobes and churches, ancient Indian pueblo ruins dating back thousands of years and dozens of historic villages from Spanish settlement land grants going back to the 1600s.
“Until I came to New Mexico, I never realized how much beauty water adds to a river.”
-Mark Twain
Your Hosts
Elizabeth (Beth) Cooper and her husband Billy are the owners and operators of Bluebird Ranch where Bluebird Studios is located. Beth and Billy’s dream came true when they moved to Santa Fe permanently from Golden, Colorado after owning a second home in Santa Fe for 15 years and they have never looked back.
Originally from Oklahoma (Go Sooners), Beth works as a professional artist in Santa Fe and her husband, a retired attorney, is now the main ranch cowboy. They have two grown children, five grandchildren, four horses, and four dogs.
Beth’s art website:
“New Mexico was the greatest experience from the outside world that I have ever had. It certainly changed me forever ... The moment I saw the brilliant, proud morning shine high up over the deserts of Santa Fe, something stood still in my soul, and I started to attend.”
-D.H. Lawrence
Photo credit: Elizabeth Ming Cooper
The Back Story
A dream sometimes, well most of the time, takes a while to develop and our dream was no exception. Around 2018, my husband and I were trying to decide ”Should we move to Santa Fe permanently?” This would mean leaving behind 30 years of memories, dozens of dear friends and a home we loved in Golden, Colorado. We already owned a second home in Santa Fe, but we wanted a place to spread out and build a barn for horses with a space for art as we started this new phase of our lives. We must have looked at 100 homes and finally we found the unexpected, a 1970’s vintage home in the country, yet close to town, on nine acres in need of a major renovation - and it was perfect! We made the offer and to our surprise, it was accepted and now we were committed. What have we done??
“Somewhere over the rainbow, bluebirds fly. Birds fly over the rainbow, why then, oh why can’t I?”
Song and lyrics by Arlan and Harburg
We rolled up our sleeves, hired a contractor, and spent two years in full renovation mode. The house was finished first then we took down an old barn and built what is now a horse stable and 2000 square foot workshop space…..Bluebird Studios.
Then (queue in scary movie music…..) in March 2020 we found ourselves in a worldwide pandemic and well, you know the rest of the story, not the best mix - live classes and a pandemic (queue the sound of screeching brakes…). However, we perservered and we now see the proverbial “pot of gold” at the end of the rainbow. Is the pandemic over? Who knows? But I do know people are ready for real connections. Zooms were fantastic in the thick of it, but people need people and some of those people need a margarita in Santa Fe.
We are excited to introduce the first group of workshop artists for 2022 and very thankful they have put their trust in our dream to help us make it a reality. We also feel so blessed to have a whole team of people from our architect, contractors, web designer, attorney, graphic designer, business coach, and best friends, just to name a few who we recruited to turn this dream into a reality. Thank you. You know who you are!
Interior of Bluebird Studios
2,000 sf with soft north light
