It is with a heavy heart that we share the news of the passing of Willie Robert Middlebrook, Jr., just one week after the opening of the Metro Expo Line, featuring Middlebrook’s artwork at the Expo/Crenshaw Station.Born in Detroit in 1957, Middlebrook relocated to Los Angeles in 1960. Willie Robert Middlebrook, husband, father of five and grandfather. Willie Middlebrook has an Associate of Arts degree in Art / Photography from Compton Community College (1978) and a Certificate in Design from the Communicative Arts Academy (1975). Mr. Middlebrook has been a working professional artist/photographer for over 20 years working throughout Southern California. During this time Mr. Middlebrook has also been involved in numerous arts and artist run organizations both local and national, received numerous awards & honors, has and is lecturing about & exhibiting his works throughout the United States.Mr. Middlebrook has participated in more than 200 solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States including exhibitions at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (CA), Cleveland Museum of Art (OH), Studio Museum of Harlem (NY), Art Institute of Chicago (ILL), Lindhurst Gallery at the University of Southern California (CA), C.E.P.A. Gallery (Buffalo, NY), Watts Towers Arts Center (CA), California African-American Museum (CA), Nexus Contemporary Art Center, (Atlanta, GA), Rome Art Center (Rome, NY), Robert B. Menschel Photography Gallery, University of Syracuse (NY), DeLuce Gallery Northwestern Missouri State University (MO), Eastern Washington University Cheney/Spokane (WA), Exit Gallery University Nevada at Reno (NE), and Museum of African-American Life and Culture (TX).Between 1972 and the present Mr. Middlebrook has received numerous awards, honors, fellowships and commendations for his art/photography. Most notable are: the Los Angeles City Council for his contributions to photography in 1987, 1990 & 1991; He was named a "Hometown Hero" by the City of Compton in 1987 and named one of the Outstanding Black Artist in California by Brockman Gallery Productions in 1982. He received his 1st National Endowment for the Arts Photographers Fellowship in 1982 for his documentary project on the Watts community entitled "Watts Revisited: Beyond the First Look" and his 2nd National Endowment for the Arts Photographers Fellowship in 1992 for his "Portraits of My People" series. In 1992 Mr. Middlebrook participated in the Artist in Residency program at Light Works in Syracuse, New York and in 1995 he received a Brody Individual Artist Fellowship from the California Community Foundation.Mr. Middlebrook has instructed numerous workshops & classes on traditional art and photography. On the University level he has instructed at California State University Los Angeles (1988 through 1991) and on the community level through the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department at the Watts towers Arts Center, Junior Arts Center, and Los Angeles Photography Centers from 1978 to the present. During this time Willie Middlebrook has given back to his community by his involvement in arts and artist run organizations both local and national. In 1994 Mr. Middlebrook became a member on the National Board of Directors of the Society for Photographic Education (SPE). Prior to that he was Chair of the SPE Multicultural Caucus (1993 and 1994), where he worked to develop a program to get more artist of color teaching art. For the past ten (10) years he has been a member of the Advisory Committee for the Photography Department at Compton Community College and since 1990 has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Angels Gate Cultural Center in San Pedro, CA.Mr. Middlebrook has been sought after to lecture about his art/photography, across the United States at such institutions as: Queensboro College (Queens, NY), San Francisco Camerawork (CA), Art institute of San Francisco (CA), University of Southern California (CA), California State University Los Angeles (CA), California State Polytechnic University Pomona (CA), Nexus Art Center (Atlanta GA), California State University Northridge (CA), East Los Angeles Community College (CA), Art Center College of Design (CA), and Northwestern Missouri State University (MO).Willie Middlebrook's works can be found in public and private collections around the country such as the Art Institute of Chicago (Ill.), National Museum of American Art - Smithsonian Institution (Washington D.C.), Los Angeles County Museum of Art (CA), Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company (CA), Southern California Gas Company (CA), A.C. Bilbrew Public Library (CA), California African-American Museum of Art, History & Culture, State of California (CA), and City of Compton (CA) to name just a few.In 1995 Mr. Middlebrook completed a five (5) year public art commission designing and producing art for a Metro Green Line Station for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority "Arts For Rail Transit" program, which feature's a 14ft x 24ft mural digitally created and printed onto Porcelain-enamel steel panels.Presently Mr. Middlebrook holds the position of Coordinator of Children's Gallery and Art Instructor for the City of Los Angeles at the Junior Arts Center. In the past he has held positions as Director of Exhibitions for Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE) 1994; Director of the Watts Towers Arts Center City of Los Angeles 1993; Assistant Director/Photography Instructor at the Los Angeles Photography Centers from 1987 to 1992; Associate Professor of Photography - California State University Los Angeles between 1988 to 1992; headed the Public Access Cable Television program for the City of Compton over seeing 7 public access channels from 1985 thru 1987; and worked as Sr. Medical Photographer for King / Drew / UCLA Medical Center between 1980 & 1985.Willie Middlebrook is represented by Schneider Gallery in Chicago, Ill; PhotoCollect Gallery over the World Wide Web, Lowinsky Gallery in New York and G.Ray Hawkins Gallery in California.GSP-PP (Gelatin Sliver Print - PhotograghicPainting)My personal and very unique photographic printing style produces a one of a kind print/image. GSP-PP is a total manipulation of the printing surface of black and white photographic papers.Utilizing painted on developer and time to achieve a special individual look to each image, I bring out the natural colors found in black & white photographic paper without adding toners, dyes or bleaches, through the use of controlled staining.The average processing time (development only), varies for each print; the time range is between 1 to 30 hours per image
