Issue link: http://maconmagazine.uberflip.com/i/1324147
A COZY, BROWN COTTAGE, illuminated by the setting sun and the warm lights within, sits among flourishing greenery. e space inside is teeming with works of art on display, supplies and old photographs of the people who have passed through its doors. Home now to the Creative Alternative, opened in 1979 by Brooks Whittle Dantzler as an art studio, and then in 1986 as a fine arts preschool, this building was where she created art, taught her children and housed her family. Its connection to the community and to Macon defined much of her life. Leo Kottke's rendition of "Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring," was softly sounding as I arrived to speak with Brooks and her two sons, Laurence and William. On May 15, 1951, "my mom witnessed a plane crash and went into labor with me." And so Brooks was born in Key West. e family moved to Macon when she was 5. Here, she was often in the care of her paternal grandmother. "She was my first art teacher ... and it wasn't weird for me to have someone in my family teaching me art and art history and being taught in a comfortable learning environment," Brooks says. Her mother worked to plug in to their new community, but in 1956 Macon, one got the feeling that "if you weren't native, you didn't belong," and finding friendships proved difficult. ey found connection "in this building, which at the time, was the Ingleside Community CHOOSING MACON Brooks Whittle Dantzler A series featuring individuals from our community who, after some time away, have returned to share their skills and talents here. BY KELLEY DIXSON PHOTO BY MIKE YOUNG Center. ... We held all our Brownies and Scouts meetings here and they would have dances and other social events." After high school, Brooks' desire to solely pursue her art career changed as higher education became a ticket "to see what was out there." She attended the University of Georgia, and after graduation, she began her career in art education. at changed in 1975 when she moved back to Macon due to a family illness. In 1976, she opened her first studio, Mockingbird Hill Studio, and then the Creative Alternative in 1979. Love intervened in her plans, and after a painful breakup with her first love, Don, she met Keitt at a farmhouse party in 1980. ey fell fast for each other and were engaged and married, at the farmhouse where they met, within two years. Later they realized, they "grew up in Macon 10 years apart ... and lived less than two miles from each other our entire lives but never met each other." In 1983, the newlyweds had their first son, Laurence, who currently serves as head of operations at Wilson's Bakery in Warner Robins. Always knowing he wanted be a chef, Laurence left Macon in pursuit of education at Georgia Southern and then again to Johnson & Wales in Colorado for his Master's degree. Each return brought new perspectives and he "realized how much Macon and the rich and inclusive food culture of the South tied LEFT: BROOKS WHITTLE DANTZLER WITH LAURENCE (LEFT) AND WILLIE D (RIGHT). ABOVE: BROOKS AND KEITT DANTZLER. 64 maconmagazine.com | DECEMBER/JANUARY 2021