Monica Elaine Brown, 66, who helped mount fashion exhibits

ELSA SCHIAPARELLI might have shocked the world with her surrealistic fashion designs, but she didn't shock Monica Elaine Brown.

As a senior collection assistant for the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Monica helped mount "Shocking!: The Art and Fashion of Elsa Schiaparelli" there.

The exhibit from September 2003 to January 2004 showcased the work of the late Italian designer, who was influenced by surrealist artists like Salvador Dali and Jean Cocteau.

It was just one of the important exhibits Monica helped bring to the museum, featuring some of the world's most prominent designers, and she did so with a seriousness of purpose that marked her lifelong approach to her art.

Monica Elaine Brown, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., who traveled the world and the U.S. to mount fashion exhibits in the major cities, a fashion designer and artist, died July 29 of breast cancer. She turned 66 on July 24. She lived in Willow Grove.

Another important exhibit that Monica helped mount for the museum was "Patrick Kelley: Runway of Love," April through December last year. It displayed the "bright, bold and joyful" creations of the late African-American designer, who said, "I want my clothes to make you smile."

When Monica Brown joined the art museum's Department of Costume and Textiles in 1980, she said it was her "dream job." And she brought her own artistic talents to the position.

Monica pursued her creative spirit wherever she went and in her home, where she often could be found sketching, drafting, crafting and designing clothing to sell at fairs, festivals, for proms, weddings and other occasions. She was always ready to give fashion advice.

"Monica loved fashion," her family said. "If she wasn't reading about the latest trend overseas in magazines, she, her sister and friends could be found at various fashion shows and events."

She and her sister, Marilyn, made a fashion team.

Monica was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013. "The sad and hurtful news took a toll on all of her family and friends," her family said. "But Monica was filled with such joy and love, she didn't know how to live any other way.

"For two long years, Monica filled her life with as much joy, happiness and laughter as she could before finally leaving us only five days after her birthday.

"Monica was our queen, hero, comedienne and stylist. We were blessed to have had her in our lives."

Monica was born in New York's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood to Melvin and Inez McDuffie. At Prospect Heights High School, she was a twirler, hostess, president of the camera club and editor for the school's art staff.

She won a two-year scholarship to the Brooklyn Museum Art School to study painting, drawing and art history. She graduated in 1967.

On June 16, 1968, she married Curtis Brown, also an artist, and they moved to Philadelphia. Curtis is the founder and director of the Minority Arts Resource Council, which held the annual MARCFest event to showcase the work of local black visual and performing artists.

Monica worked for a time in retail in Philadelphia before entering Drexel University to study fashion design. At her 1981 graduation, she won the "Best Graduate Collection" award, and her designs were exhibited at the former John Wanamaker department store.

Her husband described Monica as a "wonderful person, very talented, intuitive, warm, caring and thankful."

"Monica was a beautiful spirit, inside and out," said longtime friend Marilyn Kai Jewett, owner of Progressive Images Marketing Communications.

Besides her husband and sister, she is survived by a son, Akin; a daughter, Monifa; and five grandchildren.

Services: 11 a.m. Friday at Canaan Baptist Church, Pulaski Avenue and School House Lane, Germantown. Friends may call at 9 a.m.