^{by Sharon Quercioli}

On Tuesday Oct. 8, the Palm Beach North Chamber of Commerce Small Business Advisory Council presented its CEO Connection featuring AJ Brockman, CEO of The Brewhouse Gallery & The Kelsey Theater. Brockman is an award-winning digital artist who has been wheelchair-bound since the age of two due to Spinal Muscular Atrophy. In 2012, he had the honor of painting a family portrait of former President Barack Obama. “AJ” has always viewed himself as being “differently abled” rather than “disabled” and lives life to the fullest every day.

Currently serving as the co-owner of The Brewhouse Gallery & The Kelsey Theater, he has revitalized an entire community through art with the birth of The Lake Park Arts District. His crowning achievement is the over 900-foot continuous mural (taking up an entire city block)—which is one of the largest mural projects in South Florida. For his extraordinary efforts, AJ was awarded the 2017 Young Professional of the Year award from the Palm Beach North Chamber of Commerce.

Brockman is no stranger to the nonprofit world and spent most of his childhood raising money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and countless other organizations. Kelsey Cares was the natural progression to create a legitimate 501(c)(3) to further his vision. He has already raised over $75,000 without any subsidies or government incentives (with average donation levels of less than $100), which just shows the number of people that have been impacted. See those projects continue to come to life and continue to support our efforts by donating.

For more information about The Brewhouse Gallery and The Kelsey Theatre, please visit www.thekelseytheatre.com. For information about the Palm Beach North Chamber of Commerce, please visit www.pbnchamber.com.