Ronald Bruce Brown

July 1, 1944- July 31, 2025
Born during the fifth decade of the Twentieth Century in the Ybor City section of Tampa, Florida, reared and educated in DeLand, Florida, Ronald Bruce Brown is a Mixed Media Painter, Writer, Sculptor, Ceramicist, Photographer and Graphic Arts Designer.
Upon graduating from Southwestern High School, he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (BFA) from the Florida A & M University in Tallahassee, Florida with a Major in Fine Arts and a Minor in Graphic Arts Technology. In partial fulfillment of requirements for the completion of the Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree program, it was mandatory to leave a creative gift to the university. He chose to leave a twelve foot by four foot mural on permanent display in the Dyson School of Pharmacy Building. The mural depicts a brief historical sketch of Pharmacy from the traditional African Medicine Man to a contemporary student of pharmacy. His sculpture appears in the collections of Dr. Gerald Hooper and Dr. Howard Lewis. His photographs are in the collections of Dr. Ron Davis, FAMU Director of Theatre, Denise Omar Hoffman and Anita McKay. His paintings reside in the collections of Dr. Gene Medlin, former Stetson University professor of Mathematics, Dr. Maya Angelou and Dr. David Le'ron Walker.
His style of painting is pointillism (the method of painting of certain French Impressionists, in which a white ground (usually) is covered with tiny points of pure colour that blend together when seen from a distance, producing a luminous (bright) effect). The polarized disciplines of fine arts and graphic arts technology convene to enhance his work. His skill, in addition to the experience of living, enables him to depict situations ranging from triumphs over life's adversities to surrealistic day-dreams and fantasies. The title of his exhibition is "MESSAGES".
His work has been exhibited in the galleries of Florida A & M University, Stetson University, the Shoestring Theatre of DeLand, the inaugural exhibition in the Dr. Mary McCloud Bethune Fine Arts Building of Bethune Cookman University, Daytona Beach, the DeLand Museum, the Museum of Arts and Sciences, Daytona Beach, the Atlantic Center for the Arts' Harris House Gallery of New Smyrna Beach, the African American Museum of Art in DeLand, Seminole State College of Sanford, the Tajiri School of the Performing Arts and Academics in Sanford, the Zora Neal Hurston National Museum of Fine Arts (The Hurston) in Eatonville, the DeLand Sidewalk Art Festival, the Orlando Public Library, a Prime Time News Telecast (Channel 9 of Orlando [ABC] television network), the Today Show [special segment with Willard Scott] NBC television network, and the West Palm Beach Festival of Afro Arts.
Several pieces of his work are included in a textbook compiled by one of his former college professors, Dr. Hobie L. Williams. The title of the book is, The American Artist Today in Black & White, Volume II.
Graphic Design is also his passion. For thirty years as an employee of the school district of Volusia County, Florida, he created logos, program covers, certificates, T-Shirts, posters, flyers, brochures, tote bags, convention registration packages, newsletters, complete stationary communication packages for schools and slides for instructional television. As a reward for creating a winning logo and layout for the Florida Association of Science Teachers (FAST), he was awarded, ironically, a lifetime membership.
Prior to his career with Volusia County Schools, he briefly taught at Sugar and Spice, worked at the Kennedy Space Center, worked at Channel 6 as a film editor and starred in a commercial, and worked as a projectionist with reels at Channel 9.
His favorite quotation of all times comes from the mind of the legendary saxophone player Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, considered by many to have been the resident philosopher of the Jazz world. It states that, "God smiles on certain individuals, and they get the PRIVILEGE to have certain beautiful artistic vibrations pass through them". Amen.
He is preceded in death by:
Mother Roslynde Brown
Stepfather Prof. Willie James Brown, Sr.,
Sister Carolyn Brown Stevens,
Aunt Edythe Elizabeth Shannon,
Grandmother Juanita V. Shannon
Great Grandmother Rosa Lee Shannon Williams (Munka)
Great Grandfather Arthur Shannon
Great Grandfather Washington Williams (Woody)
Uncle John Layton Shannon
Aunt Adeline Shannon Harris (Data)
The sweetness of his memories will be cherished by: Nieces, Michele D. Brown and Maya Elizabeth Brown; Nephew: Machi T. Smokes; Brother: Willie J. Brown, Jr., and Brother-in-Law: Joseph Stevens, Special Cousins, Dr. Klara S. Hadley (Fred) and Dr. Fredara Mareva Hadley. The Lawson/Taylor family of DeLand, a host of cousins from Tampa, as well as many dear friends.
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