Dear Friends,
We are incredibly sad to tell you that Brookie Maxwell, Artist and Founding Director of Gallery 138, passed away last Wednesday at home in the company of her close family. Brookie was a truly amazing woman, who dedicated her artistic career to healing, educating, and inspiring communities. She has touched the hearts of many.
At Gallery 138, Brookie curated and exhibited work pertaining to race, women's experiences, violence and genocide, and healing trauma, and mediated dialogs about these issues.
In her own words: "I did not find what I was looking for in a gallery - an African style community where artists were given time, space and resources to experiment, where they flourished in the creation of their own work, inspired each other and collaborated together to create the best work of their careers. I founded Gallery 138 to be that space".
Her latest project Coming Home: Journey, Community, Dialog, is a large scale public art experience, with a goal of bringing civilian and military communities together in an honest and open dialog, and helping heal the wounds of war. The staff and advisors of Coming Home are working on ways to continue and complete the project in the way Brookie would have wanted.
Below is her obituary in the New York Times by Sam Roberts http://nyti.ms/1PyRnXl