Leigh Brooklyn
Leigh Brooklyn was born in 1987 outside of Cleveland, Ohio. In 2006 Brooklyn enrolled into the Columbus College of Art and Design. Later she transferred to The Cleveland Institute of Art after being inspired by the work of forensic artists who helped in a missing-person’s case. She earned her degree in Biomedical Illustration in 2011. Brooklyn worked with several hospitals, museums, and research facilities including the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, The Cleveland Botanical Gardens, The Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Case Western Reserve University, and Novelmed Therapeutics.
After 2011 Brooklyn moved throughout the country gaining artistic inspiration from various individuals she met through her street photography. After hearing all the incredible stories of those she encountered and drawing from her own personal experiences Brooklyn decided to switch her work’s focus back to her roots of figurative drawing and oil painting.
In 2019 Brooklyn understudied nationally acclaimed figurative sculptor, David Demming, where she learned techniques for creating large scale sculptures out of oil-based clay to be cast in bronze. That same year Brooklyn began taking welding courses for use in her sculptural work. She learned SMAW, GTAW, GMAW, FCAW, plasma and oxyfuel cutting eventually earning her lifetime certification in 3G GMAW welding.
Brooklyn has won a variety of awards for her art since 2004. She recently won the American Illustration Award, AI 40, where her work was one of the 426 winners selected out of over 7000 entries. Placing her work among the top illustrators and artists in the country. Her work has been displayed in galleries, museums, and art fairs around the country including the LA Art Show and the Makeshift Museum in Los Angeles, the U.S. Capitol Building and Corcoran Gallery in Washington D.C., The Alliance and Lichtundfire Galleries in New York, and the Diane von Furstenberg Studio. She is currently represented by D. Colabella Fine Art Gallery in Connecticut, Art Unified in Los Angeles and District Gallery in Cleveland, OH. She plans to further expand her artistic and humanitarian endeavors in the local, national, and international community.
