Living Legends 2023: JOAN P. BROCK

PHILANTHROPIST, VIRGINIA BEACH

Published August 30, 2023 by Virginia Business

Brock embraces the art of philanthropy, as well as philanthropy through art.

A longtime art collector and patron, the Norfolk native donated $34 million to the Chrysler Museum of Art in 2022. Her gift funded endowments for two curator posts and included 40 pieces from her private collection, including works by John Singer Sargent, Winslow Homer, Sally Michel Avery, William Merritt Chase and Debora Moore.

“I could not be happier to make this gift to the Chrysler and to the Hampton Roads region that has been my home for most of my life,” Brock said in a statement. 

A Longwood University and Old Dominion University graduate, Brock supports numerous Virginia institutions, including Randolph-Macon College, Virginia Wesleyan University, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Sentara Brock Cancer Center, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and both her alma maters.

Brock amassed her art collection with her late husband, Dollar Tree co-founder Macon Brock Jr. She was the first woman to chair the Chrysler Museum board and also volunteered as a museum docent.

The Brocks were named outstanding philanthropists by the Association of Fundraising Professionals in 2015.

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