Brooke Barzun (born ''Brooke Lee Brown''; June 18, 1972) is an art curator and philanthropist based in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

with her husband,

Matthew Barzun Matthew Winthrop Barzun (born October 23, 1970) is an American businessman, diplomat and political fundraiser who served as the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom. He is a business executive who is known for his work with CNET Networks ...

, the former

United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom The United States ambassador to the United Kingdom (known formally as the ambassador of the United States to the Court of St James's) is the official representative of the president of the United States and the Federal government of the United S ...

Early life

She is the daughter of Owsley Brown II and Christy Brown, and the granddaughter of Sally Brown. Her extended family has voting control of Brown-Forman Corporation, the parent company of

Jack Daniel's Jack Daniel's is a brand of Tennessee whiskey. It is produced in Lynchburg, Tennessee, by the Jack Daniel Distillery, which has been owned by the Brown–Forman Corporation since 1956. Packaged in square bottles, Jack Daniel's "Black Label" T ...

whiskey and other brands. Barzun grew up in

and attended

Westover School The Westover School, often referred to simply as "Westover," is an independent college-preparatory day and boarding school for girls. Located in Middlebury, Connecticut, United States, the school offers grades 9–12. Early History Mary Hil ...

(Connecticut) and

Lake Forest College Lake Forest College is a private liberal arts college in Lake Forest, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Lind University by a group of Presbyterian ministers, the college has been coeducational since 1876 and an undergraduate-focused liberal arts inst ...

(Illinois). She received her master's degree in marriage, family and child counseling at Notre Dame De Namur University (California) with an emphasis in art therapy.

Diplomatic career

In Sweden, where she lived from 2009 to 2011, Barzun led cultural diplomacy efforts. She led the curation of three contemporary art shows: a show of Swedish art at the American residence, a show entitled ''Transparency and Trans-formations in contemporary American Art'' featuring American art in coordination with U.S. Department of State's Art in Embassies program and artwithoutwalls, and ''Underglow'', a public art installation by artist Chris Doyle. She was a common presence at cultural events in Stockholm. In London, where her husband served as Ambassador 2013-2017, she continued her cultural diplomacy, joining the

Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpo ...

Development Trust.

Cultural leadership in Louisville

In the fall of 2011, after the death of her father, Owsley Brown II, a devoted patron of the arts in Louisville, Barzun joined the board of Louisville's

Speed Art Museum The Speed Art Museum, originally known as the J.B. Speed Memorial Museum, now colloquially referred to as the Speed by locals, is the oldest and largest art museum in Kentucky. It was established in 1927 in Louisville, Kentucky on Third Street ...

and set about completing the capital campaign Brown had begun for a major expansion. Barzun took over as co-chair and completed "phase 2" of fundraising for the project. She was then named co-chair for the third and final phase. In May 2013, it was announced that the fundraising goal had been met years ahead of schedule. The effort " utus five to 10 years ahead of where we thought we would be in completing the master plan," according to Speed board president Allan Latts, and reduced the project's original budget by $20 million because of cost savings captured from an accelerated construction timetable.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barzun, Brooke 1972 births Living people 21st-century American women American art curators American art patrons American women curators