Jon Brooks b. 1944
Jon Brooks is a leading figure in the American Studio Furniture movement. Born in Manchester, New Hampshire, Brooks took classes at the Currier Museum of Art as a child and later attended the Rochester Institute of Technology. He studied and under fellow masters Wendell Castle and William Keiser, before graduating with his master’s degree in 1966. Under Castle’s guidance and driven by a deep connection with the forests of New Hampshire where he grew up, Brooks developed an early expressive sculptural style where function is a chosen limitation.
After college, Brooks moved across the country to San Francisco and immersed himself in the culture. On the west coast, he found an environment that nurtured his independent spirit, one that was ripe with creative energy and fellow artists who were blurring the lines between craft and art. He enjoyed minor success during this time and exhibited in several galleries in the city. In 1969, after saving enough money, he and his first wife Mona moved back east and purchased land in New Boston, New Hampshire where he would build his home and studio, ArtSoul.
