FASCINATING PEOPLE

Shanny Brooke

The Storied Artist

What do an artist, opera singer, and private chef have in common? They are all jobs held by one person: Shanny Brooke.

Brooke owns Higher Art Gallery, a studio art gallery in Traverse City. Just like the unique art on display, her life has been a beautiful assortment of experiences that have led her to find and pursue her true passion.

Overwhelming. That’s the first thought upon entering Steve Loveless’s home.

Posters of the Beatles, The Who, The James Gang, Traffic, and more line the walls. One might expect the home of a professional photographer who owned a gallery and framing shop for years to display images of his work, but instead it’s an homage to a lifetime of collecting. And they all have a story.

“I have tons of Who stuff: a signed performance contract, a Magic Bus poster. I met John Entwhistle after a concert,” Loveless says while a live AC/DC concert is blaring from the TV.

Ask him his favorite artists and again he’s off and running. “My favorites today are probably the Beatles, Pink Floyd, AC/DC, Andy Partridge, John Mayall, Conrad Schnitzler, Kraftwerk. The Stones, Pere Ubu, Gang of Four, XTC, the Sex Pistols …”

It’s more than just the music, however, even though he has thousands of CDs, records, cassettes, and even a few remaining 8-track tapes. It’s all about the memorabilia adorning the walls of his living room, kitchen, hall, bathroom, and bedroom. They tell the story of his passion for music and artists, and they all come with stories Loveless is more than happy to share.

Brooke’s love of music and opera led her to pursue a degree at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. However, thanks to crippling stage fright, she soon realized she could not perform without becoming sick. Once her first act ended, another curtain rose as a private chef, a role that led her back to northern Michigan, where she and her father opened a restaurant in Elk Rapids.

She returned to square one after a mutual decision to close the restaurant. Then, as fate would have it, Brooke met her current partner, a dog trainer, and she began painting some of the dogs her partner trained. Now, though she no longer paints pups, she has found her true calling: artist and entrepreneur, which brought her to Higher Art Gallery.

“Throughout my life, I have struggled with imposter syndrome,” Brooke says. “Sometimes we put so much emphasis on having to have a degree in something to make a living. I’ve never subscribed to that. If you put in the work and the effort and continue to try to be good at something and feel passionate about it, you’ll be successful.”