Meet Brooke Garber Neidich: Powerhouse Art Collector, Jewelry Designer, & Philanthropist
It’s a classic New York story.
Maybe even a little Hollywood.
Two women walk out of opposite dressing rooms at a luxury department store.
Their salesperson says, “You two will like each other.”
And the two women become fast friends.
Brooke Garber Neidich, Alina Cho at the Whitney Museum Annual Gala and Studio Party, May 23, 2017
That’s exactly how I met my dear friend, Brooke Garber Neidich, more than a decade ago.
Back then, I had no way of knowing that Brooke was – is – the powerhouse that she is.
Brooke Garber Neidich
One of New York’s biggest philanthropists. A world-class art collector and patron.
Brooke Garber Neidich, Adam Weinberg, Alice Pratt Brown Director of the Whitney Museum
C.F.O.H. – close friend of Hillary [Clinton].
Hillary Clinton, Brooke Garber Neidich at Camelot: A Benefit for Lincoln Center Theater, March 4, 2019
Jewelry designer to the stars.
Brooke Garber Neidich, Mary-Kate Olsen at the Child Mind Institute 2019: Child Advocacy Award Dinner, November 19, 2019
That last part – jewelry designer – is one of the big reasons we’re sitting down to chat.
Sidney Garber – the brand her father founded – is celebrating a major milestone.
HOW DID HER FAMILY GET INTO THE JEWELRY BUSINESS?
ALINA CHO: Sidney Garber has been around for 75 years. That’s incredible, Brooke.
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: It's so crazy.
ALINA CHO: Let’s talk about how your father, Sidney, started the business. He fought in World War II.
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: He was a navigator on B-52s.
ALINA CHO: But how does he go from that to becoming a jeweler?
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: His father was a watch repairman, had a tiny little cubby [in Chicago]. It's not the same as a watchmaker, [he was] a watch repairman, it's not the same. But he was very good at it. And my father sat behind him in this tiny cubby and put watches together. He was very…
ALINA CHO: Industrious.
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: Very industrious, very dexterous, which was important. And then people would say to him, "You know, I've been thinking about getting my wife a strand of pearls. Could you go find me some? You're there [in the jewelry district].” And he would go and look at pearls and think about the pearls. Little by little, he thought, I should do this. I should have a store.
ALINA CHO: So, he opened a store. And he obviously grew a following.
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: He had an eye, and he did grow a following. And I remember as a little girl going to weddings [because] everyone he sold an engagement ring to invited him to the wedding.
ALINA CHO: And as soon as you were tall enough to stand behind a counter, you worked at the store.
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: It was how I saw him. Because he would leave at seven in the morning, and he wouldn't come back until really late. I wanted to see my father. I wanted to be with my father. And that was the way.
Brooke Garber Neidich with her father, Sidney Garber
ALINA CHO: When your father died [in 2008], you inherited the business.
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: Yes.
ALINA CHO: And you grew it. You opened another store [in addition to the Chicago boutique] on Madison Avenue [in 2014].
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: Even though he said it would never happen, I would run it to the ground.
ALINA CHO: What I love about your jewelry is that it's timeless, but it's also very wearable and very versatile.
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: How you are describing jewelry is exactly how I see jewelry. I grew up being given jewelry as gifts. So, in a way it was special, but it wasn't unattainable.
ALINA CHO: It was just a part of your life.
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: Yes, very, very much so.
ALINA CHO: Well, you will often scold me when I tell you I'm thinking about getting one of your pieces, you'll say, "You'll have it forever. Stop buying fashion."
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: It's permanent. It has memories. Clothes go to resale.
ALINA CHO: Yeah, you're right. What are your bestsellers today?
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: The Feather Earrings. For sure.
Sidney Garber Feathers That Move Earrings
The Rolling Bracelet. For sure.
Sidney Garber Rolling Bracelets in Yellow, White and Rose Gold
Even now, I get an end-of-day report from both stores. I just read the other day that a woman came in, who's had the copy forever, and she wanted to buy the real bracelet. I just thought, this is everything.
ALINA CHO: That's amazing.
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: And then there's another woman who is really quite the entrepreneur, she wears my Rolling Bracelet every single day. And she says, “It's the least expensive thing, cost per wear, that I own." And I think that's extraordinary.
ALINA CHO: I think 75 years [in business] is extraordinary.
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: My father would say, "You really don't know the value of a dollar." But I did it. I didn't do it alone. But I did it.
ALINA CHO: He'd be quite proud. Don't you think?
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: I think so. Until now, I would've said it’s a heritage business, I’m standing on the shoulders of a giant, and I am only repeating [what he’s already done].
ALINA CHO: But you're not.
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: But I'm not. The Feather [Earrings] are absolutely mine. The Eve Bracelet is mine, the Honeycomb Earrings as well.
Sidney Garber Honeycomb Earrings in White Gold
It’s his original vision, [but] I now feel incredibly proud.
BUT HAVE YOU SEEN HER ART COLLECTION?
ALINA CHO: You love art, and you love collecting art.
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: Well, we were starting to buy art when we were working on an apartment [we bought]. This was maybe 1990, ’89. We wanted to work with a designer, and we chose to work with Jed Johnson because his office was filled with art. He was, of course, famously Andy Warhol's boyfriend for many, many years.
Andy Warhol, Jed Johnson
He and his twin brother, Jay, came from California. [Jed was a delivery boy] who delivered something to The Factory.
ALINA CHO: And that's how he met Andy Warhol?
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: 18 years old. That was it. He was with Andy from then on.
ALINA CHO: So, you hired him to design your apartment?
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: And we hired him to design our apartment because his office was filled with Warhol. So, I was already…
ALINA CHO: Enamored with art.
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: I was enamored with art.
ALINA CHO: But there are people who collect art and then there are people who collect art. [You’re on the board of the Whitney Museum].
Brooke Garber Neidich at the Whitney Museum, June 24, 2014
I know you don't like to brag, but what are some of the more special and memorable pieces in your collection?
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: Always memorable is what you lost. What you didn't buy, what you didn't have the sense to buy. And I was a sort-of all over the place.
ALINA CHO: You love contemporary art.
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: I love contemporary art. There is no question. I bought Wade Guyton incredibly early and then became friends with Wade. But I missed the paintings that I should have bought right after, because I was looking at something else and bought that. There's a wonderful artist who has a great show up now named Frank Moore, who died, just extraordinary. I bought a Frank Moore piece, but I only bought a [single] Frank Moore [piece].
ALINA CHO: How did you get involved with the Whitney Museum?
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: My friend, Beth Rudin DeWoody, said, “You should be on the print acquisition committee." And that's really where I learned [about art]. I started collecting David Wojnarowicz and it was our painting that was the front of the David Wojnarowicz Show [at the Whitney Museum], the front of the catalog.
David Wojnarowicz (1954-1992) with Tom Warren, Self-Portrait of David Wojnarowicz, 1983-84, Collection of Brooke Garber Neidich and Daniel Neidich
ALINA CHO: Can you explain to me what it is about art that you love?
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: It actually lifts my soul.
AND YOU WON’T BELIEVE WHAT ELSE SHE DOES
ALINA CHO: You’re on the board of the Whitney [Museum]. You're on the board of Lincoln Center Theater. And you are also the co-founder of the Child Mind Institute.
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: The Whitney [Museum] and Lincoln Center Theater are what I love. The Child Mind Institute is what I owe.
Brooke Garber Neidich at the Child Mind Institute Gala, November 24, 2014
ALINA CHO: What you owe.
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: And I owe it because Dr. [Harold] Koplewicz [one of the nation’s leading child and adolescent psychiatrists] is the person who diagnosed our oldest son with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder at a time when…
ALINA CHO: That wasn't being diagnosed.
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: It wasn't being diagnosed. We had a brilliant child who really had a hard time in school. I mean, we used to call those children underachievers, but there were reasons the children were underachieving. They couldn't see the blackboard in the same way. They couldn't find their pencil. They couldn't bring home their assignment. All of that is what we now call executive functioning.
ALINA CHO: Right.
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: I ran into Harold on the street, and he said, "You had him tested?" I said, "Of course, I've had him tested." He said, "Send me the results." I sent the results. He called me up. He said, "No one talked to you about ADHD?"
ALINA CHO: So, you listened.
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: I listened, but I still wouldn't give him medicine because, somehow, I decided I knew more. A year later when Jon [my son] said, "I don't mean to be difficult. I just can't focus." I said, "Okay, fine.” He came home [from school] and said, "I am smart. I could read the assignment. I had my pencil. I had my notebook. I'm there."
Brooke Garber Neidich, Jon Neidich at the Child Mind Institute 2019: Child Advocacy Award Dinner, November 19, 2019
ALINA CHO: Wow.
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: And I said to Dr. Koplewicz, in my tremendous sense of gratitude, “What can I do to help you?” And unfortunately (laughs), he had a plan.
ALINA CHO: What does the Child Mind Institute do?
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: The Child Mind Institute sees children from all over the world.
ALINA CHO: So, it's diagnosis, it's treatment?
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: Not just treatment. It’s evidence-based treatment. We do research, which is very unusual for a center that is not affiliated with a medical center.
ALINA CHO: A few years ago [in 2015], Child Mind honored you. I was at your table. It was such a special night. And your good friend, Hillary Clinton, presented the award.
Brooke Garber Neidich, Hillary Clinton at the Child Mind Institute Gala
I mean, that's something...
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: That was something. She believes so deeply in mental health. She has been one of the greatest advocates for children's mental health.
ALINA CHO: You give away all your Sidney Garber profits to charity. Why is it so important for you to do that?
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: There are people who don't feel the same sense of joy when they give money away. [There’s] this amazing quote about people with deep pockets, but short arms...
ALINA CHO: Yes, short arms.
BROOKE GARBER NEIDICH: I see people who feel the pain of writing the check, but I feel nothing but joy.