

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brooke Trace.
Hi Brooke, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Brooke Trace is an artist and gallerist in South Florida who turns sunrises into narratives and gallery walls into community stages. She founded North Beach Art Gallery and North Beach Art and Charity, Inc., 501(c) (3) to fuse exhibitions with philanthropy, curating shows, producing “Art & Charity” series, and partnering with local institutions, including Abandoned Pet Rescue, Holy Cross Women’s Center, American Cancer Society, and many more. Her photography, beach sunrises, close nature studies, and sea turtle conservation posts anchor a growing digital presence across social platforms and nobegallery.com, where visual poetry meets practical calls to action.
Practical and detail-driven, Brooke pairs creative vision with business acumen: redesigning websites, building marketing strategies, integrating analytics and email systems, and assembling investor kits and outreach packs. She’s stewarding the Erté Legacy Collection, a singular, privately held archive of bronze sculptures. She is implementing a strategic outreach plan targeting collectors, museums, and philanthropic partners, timed to coincide with significant anniversaries of Art Deco. Her approach is a blend of curator, educator, strategist, and organizer, encompassing the creation of press releases, tailored outreach letters, contact trackers, and high-impact presentations.
Brooke’s work is community-centered: benefit exhibitions, conservation advocacy, and educational programs that make art matter beyond the gallery. She balances emotional honesty with tactical planning, turning setbacks into opportunities while maintaining an artist’s sensitivity. Sharp-witted, uncompromising, and forward-thinking, Brooke insists art should be beautiful and functional, made to move people, preserve culture, and fund causes that matter. She believes in resilient creativity, meticulous execution, bold outreach, and generous collaboration, constantly pushing boundaries while honoring craft, community, history, and future opportunities, and striving for sustainable impact.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, it has not been a smooth road. Running an art business comes with challenges in the best of times, but the pandemic tested everything, financially, emotionally, and logistically. Like many in the arts, I had to face the reality that cultural spaces were among the first to close and the last to reopen. Exhibitions, events, and community programs came to a standstill, prompting a rethink on how to keep art alive when people couldn’t gather in person.
Surviving that period required resilience and creativity. I had to shift focus toward strengthening digital platforms, building an online presence, and finding ways to engage audiences virtually through photography, storytelling, and social media. It was a crash course in adaptability: learning new tools, creating new strategies, and building systems that could sustain both my gallery and my nonprofit while traditional doors were closed.
The experience sharpened my business mindset, even in a field often undervalued for its economic impact. It also reminded me that art isn’t just about aesthetics, it’s about connection and endurance. The pandemic forced me to innovate, reimagine, and hold onto the belief that art and community have value even in the darkest of times.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I specialize in curating and representing the Erté Legacy Collection, the only complete privately held bronze sculpture collection by the iconic Art Deco master Erté (Romain de Tirtoff). The collection spans 205 works, including 146 bronzes, the Alphabet and Numerals suites, Objects d’Art, and rare medallions, making it a singular archive of his late-life masterpiece period.
I’m most proud of stewarding this collection as both an artistic treasure and a cultural legacy. Erté’s bronzes, created in the 1980s and 1990s, revived global appreciation for Art Deco, bridging fashion, sculpture, and design. Having this body of work intact in one place is extraordinary; it allows viewers to see the breadth of their vision, from elegant figures to symbolic designs that defined an era.
What sets this work apart is its completeness and authenticity. While many museums and collectors hold individual Erté works, this is the only privately held, entire scope of his bronze works unified. That gives the collection a once-in-a-lifetime potential to be exhibited, donated, or placed as a permanent legacy for cultural preservation.
Beyond the art itself, what distinguishes my role is how I merge creative vision with strategy, developing investor kits, outreach plans, and philanthropic pathways to ensure this collection finds the right home and remains intact. It’s about more than selling art; it’s about honoring history, inspiring future generations, and ensuring Erté’s contribution to Art Deco continues to shine globally.
What are your plans for the future?
Looking ahead, my focus is on advancing the Erté Legacy Collection in a manner that honors the artist and keeps his spirit alive. This means not only finding the proper placement, whether with a museum, private collector, or philanthropic institution, but also ensuring the collection is presented as the unified cultural treasure it truly is.
I’m planning for opportunities tied to the upcoming Art Deco Centennial, which offers a powerful global stage to showcase Erté’s impact. My goal is to create meaningful collaborations, exhibitions, and partnerships that highlight the collection’s significance and preserve Erté’s vision for future generations.
In short, the future is about legacy: ensuring this once-in-a-lifetime collection doesn’t just exist in storage, but continues to inspire, educate, and connect people to the elegance and imagination that defined Erté’s life’s work.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.nobegallery.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nobegallery
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NorthBeachArtGallery
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/northbeachartgallery
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@cbrooket
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/north-beach-art-gallery-fort-lauderdale-2
- Other: https://www.nobeartandcharity.com