Brian Thomas Caraway's Obituary
Vincent van Gogh. Pablo Picasso. Jackson Pollock. There are a lot of great artists in history that are remembered for their talent, but not for their personality. That will never be the case for Brian Caraway. To have known him is to have laughed with him until it hurt, to have felt appreciated for talents the rest of the world doesn’t always see, to have felt the embrace of true friendship. He deeply loved the creative community he spent a lifetime building, and was deeply loved in return. In addition to his parents and stepparents: Sarah and Tom Keener, and Michael and Therese Caraway, his stepbrother Kyle Keener, his niece Colette Edlefsen, his in-laws Kitty and Sidney Auyeung, Carol and Ted Edlefsen, Shelly Auyeung and Patrick Maley, his beloved wife Alice, and his son Owen, he leaves behind a world of vivid colors and music, and an indelible mark on the Bay Area that was his home for 30 years.
Brian skateboarded through his earliest years along the flat, sunny landscapes of Palm Springs and Redondo Beach. Eventually he moved north to study painting and printmaking first at San Francisco State University, then abroad in Florence, Italy, and finally at Mills College where he earned his Master of Fine Arts degree. This formal training informed a professional career as a printmaker at Magnolia Editions, his work as a fine art preparator at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and the Oakland Museum of California, and his decade as lead fabricator and preparator with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
The bright, straight contours of the Southern California skyline from his youth later showed up in his own paintings. Caraway’s mathematical investigations of glowing geometries and lines were reminiscent of the moments before sunrise. They lit up the walls of many galleries including Chandra Cerrito Contemporary, Root Division, the Kala Art Institute, and most recently, Gearbox Gallery.
If you were the gambling sort, you could’ve made money betting you’d find Brian anywhere his friends were showing their art, throwing a party, playing baseball, or playing music. He was also an accomplished musician who played bass guitar in the bands My Lot, Lady Genius, Primary Structures, and Palm Fire.
Above all he cherished his roles as husband, a father, a son and a friend. The detail and care he lavished on those he knew and loved was as constant and dependable as the sun rising and setting, elevating friendship itself into a form of art, of which he was unquestionably a master.
A celebration of Brian’s life will be held at Chapel of the Chimes, in Oakland, California, on June 19, 2026 at 5:00 PM.
What’s your fondest memory of Brian?
What’s a lesson you learned from Brian?
Share a story where Brian's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Brian you’ll never forget.
How did Brian make you smile?