Robin Brooks
Photo of Robin Brooks taken by Keith Spiro at the Shambhala Center, Brunswick, Maine
Bio
Robin Brooks is a visual artist, tai chi teacher, and activist for the Common Good. She is a member of ARRT!, the Artist Rapid Response Team, Union of Maine Visual Artists Robin sees her landscape-inspired collage paintings as a means of creating more empathy toward the natural world. She also enjoys working from observation and memory and playing with a variety of art processes including acrylic painting, collage, monotype printmaking, and textiles.
Robin grew up in West Orange, New Jersey, the ancestral lands of the Leni Lenape where she attended public schools. The oldest of five children, she studied art at Boston University and in the early 1980’s, she attended the MFA painting program at Parsons School of Design. She is a grandchild and great-grandchild of Jewish immigrants from the Pale of Settlement in Europe. Robin continues to explore questions about her past as it pertains to the present moment. In 2020, she embarked on a deep dive into these questions in The Foremothers Project.
Robin shares her love of tai chi in a weekly “Healer Within” tai chi and qigong practice group on Friday mornings via Zoom. Please use the contact form if you are interested in trying it out. She enjoys helping people of all ages and abilities to grow and learn in a safe and nonjudgmental atmosphere.
Robin has offered numerous workshops for children and adults in art and tai chi. Please contact her to plan your next workshop or seminar. She is also available for speaking engagements and consulting.
photo by Jonathan Riggleman, 2020
Robin Brooks speaking at the opening of the Brunswick Topsham Land Trust Plein Air Exhibit, Thornton Oaks, June 2014
Personal
Robin and Toshi in the studio. photo by Allison McKeen
Robin Brooks was born in Newark, New Jersey. She graduated with honors from West Orange High School in West Orange, New Jersey and has always been active in her community, volunteering for causes that promote health, healing, and social and environmental justice. A resident of Maine since 1987, Robin lives in Topsham with her husband Jon Riggleman, a high school English teacher, and their cat Toshi.
Education
Parsons School of Design, New York , N.Y. – M.F.A., Painting, 1984
Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts – B.F.A., Art Education, 1979
Resume
Articles and External Links:
Harlow Gallery (Kennebec Valley Art Association)
Maine Art Education Association (MAEA)
Maine Alliance for Arts Education (MAAE)
Plein air painting in the Katahdin Woods and Waters Park(video)
Intersecting Planes: The Collages of Robin Brooks (article)