Thomas Miller (visual artist)
Encyclopedia
Graphic design
Graphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
er and visual artist
Visual arts
The visual arts are art forms that create works which are primarily visual in nature, such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, and often modern visual arts and architecture...
, whose best known publicly accessible work is the collection of mosaics of the founders of DuSable Museum of African American History in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. The mosaics are a prominent feature of the lobby of the museum, the original portion of which was designed c.1915 by D.H. Burnham and Company to serve as the South Park Administration Building in Washington Park
Washington Park (Chicago park)
On December 6, 1879, former U.S. President Ulysses Grant took part in a tree planting ceremony in the park. A memorial boulder with a plaque commemorated the event. In the 1920s black semiprofessional baseball teams played at Washington Park...
on the city's south side. After serving various purposes, the building became the home of the DuSable in 1973.
Early life
Miller, the grandson of slaves, was born in Bristol, VirginiaBristol, Virginia
Bristol is an independent city in Virginia, United States, bounded by Washington County, Virginia, Bristol, Tennessee, and Sullivan County, Tennessee....
, where he graduated from Douglas High School in 1937. He then attended Virginia State College (now Virginia State University) which was founded in 1882 as the country's first fully state supported four-year institution of higher learning for African-Americans
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
. He graduated from there in 1941 after having earned a bachelor's degree in education with a focus on art, and subsequently enlisted in the U.S. Army, where he attained the rank of first sergeant, serving in the 3437 Quartermaster Truck Company during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Education
Although a formal education in art was not available to Miller during his childhood, he pursued his interest with a tenacity that would prove to be a prominent characteristic of his personality later in life. The black libraries that were accessible to him as a child in the south were generally not provided with the art history books that he was interested in studying, but he was able to use white libraries to explore the offerings of history's major artists. It was there that Miller discovered Leonardo da VinciLeonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
, whose work was an inspiration that continues to this day.
Miller didn't have the opportunity to formally study art until he came to Chicago after he was discharged from the army. It was there, determined to develop his talent, that Miller applied to and was accepted as a student at the Ray Vogue School of Art. This was not easily accomplished in those days, and he and his fellow student Emmett McBain ". . .were the only African-Americans besides the janitors."
The school had been founded in 1916 as The Commercial Art School, and was one of the first colleges of applied art and design in the United States. By 1946, when Miller became a student, Ray Vogue had a national reputation as a leading educator in professional art and fashion design. While at Ray Vogue, Miller studied commercial and graphic art, and completed his studies there in 1950.
Morton Goldsholl Associates
Miller began his career as a professional artist with a brief stint in the Chicago offices of Gerstel-Loeff before joining Morton Goldsholl Associates, a studio that was known at the time for its "progressive hiring policies" in that it was one of the few firms then that hired minorities and women in a professional capacity. Because it was a small office with a reputation for innovation and quality, it was a rare occasion when a chance to work for Goldsholl presented itself, and when this happened in 1950 Miller pursued the opportunity with his usual diligence. Years later during an interview, he described an early part of the discussion he had with Goldsholl (1911–1995): "Morton Goldsholl told me, unlike the other people, that he wanted a designer. And he said that he wasn't hiring me because I was black and he felt sorry for me. He said he was hiring me because he needed a designer. That turned a corner for me."The road to Goldsholl was not an easy one, considering that it was necessary for Miller to overcome the obstacle that was created by the color of his skin. Although armed with a degree from a respected state university and later training as a commercial artist, it became necessary for Miller to leave his wife Anita and their two children in the care of her sister in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, where the two women taught in the public schools, while he set out to find employment where he would be hired as an equal in his field. His first efforts were made in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, and although he received an offer of employment with the understanding that he could work behind a screen so that his presence would not be obvious to the other designers and corporate clients, he considered this circumstance to be unacceptable. After exhausting whatever possibilities might have existed in the East
Northeastern United States
The Northeastern United States is a region of the United States as defined by the United States Census Bureau.-Composition:The region comprises nine states: the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Mid-Atlantic states of New...
, the next stop on his itinerary was Chicago, where he landed a job first with Gerstel-Loeff, and eventually with Morton Goldsholl. Miller flourished there, staying until his retirement some thirty-five years later.
Although a relatively small firm by Chicago standards (the office was founded in the early 1940s and consisted of only about a dozen people at any given time, including Morton Goldsholl and his wife, Millie) Goldsholl was considered to be one of the leading graphic designers in the city of Chicago.
In 1950 the studio was responsible for the creation of the Good Design Award which had been established that year by the founders of The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design: architects Eero Saarinen
Eero Saarinen
Eero Saarinen was a Finnish American architect and industrial designer of the 20th century famous for varying his style according to the demands of the project: simple, sweeping, arching structural curves or machine-like rationalism.-Biography:Eero Saarinen shared the same birthday as his father,...
, Charles Eames, Ray Eames, and Edgar Kaufmann, Jr.
Edgar Kaufmann, jr.
Edgar Kaufmann, Jr. was an American architect, lecturer, and author.-Early years:He was the son of Edgar J. Kaufmann, a wealthy Pittsburgh businessman and philanthropist who owned Kaufmann's department store. Edgar Jr. attended the School for Arts and Crafts at the Austrian Museum of Applied Art...
. The award has been sponsored by that organization and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies since it was introduced, and in 2009 an award was given to Steelcase, Inc.
Steelcase
Steelcase is an international office furniture company founded in 1912 in Grand Rapids, Michigan — as The Metal Office Furniture Company. The company at the time specialized in file cabinets and safes. Today, the company sells products related to interior architecture, furniture and technology...
for their "environmentally sustainable" Think chair. The Goldsholls studied under László Moholy-Nagy
László Moholy-Nagy
László Moholy-Nagy was a Hungarian painter and photographer as well as professor in the Bauhaus school. He was highly influenced by constructivism and a strong advocate of the integration of technology and industry into the arts.-Early life:...
at the New Bauhaus (now the IIT Institute of Design
IIT Institute of Design
Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology , originally founded as the New Bauhaus, is a graduate school teaching systemic, human-centered design.- History :...
at the Illinois Institute of Technology
Illinois Institute of Technology
Illinois Institute of Technology, commonly called Illinois Tech or IIT, is a private Ph.D.-granting university located in Chicago, Illinois, with programs in engineering, science, psychology, architecture, business, communications, industrial technology, information technology, design, and law...
), and as the studio developed, it became internationally renowned for its creative output, which included animation and the development of branding and packaging for major international organizations like Motorola
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
, Quaker Oats
Quaker Oats Company
The Quaker Oats Company is an American food conglomerate based in Chicago. It has been owned by Pepsico since 2001.-History:Quaker Oats was founded in 1901 by the merger of four oat mills:...
and the Peace Corps
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...
. Animation by the firm included commercials for companies the caliber of Gillette and Hallmark
Hallmark Cards
Hallmark Cards is a privately owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce C. Hall, Hallmark is the largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the United States. In 1985, the company was awarded the National Medal of Arts....
, whose advertising budgets would allow them to go anywhere, but who instead elected to come to Morton Goldsholl Associates, "The most successful of [Chicago] animation producers". Millie Goldsholl is an accomplished photographer and was one of the founders in 1975 of the Midwest USA Chapter of ASIFA, the International Animated Film Association
International Animated Film Association
The International Animated Film Association or ASIFA is an international non-profit organization founded in 1960 in Annecy, France by the best known animation artists of the time such as the Canadian animator, Norman McLaren...
(l'Association Internationale du Film d'Animation). The innovation of Morton Goldsholl Associates wasn't expressed only in art per se - for example the firm was awarded a patent in 1985 (US4501488) for the invention of an "Image processor and method for use in making photographic prints" which was capable of making unusual images using ordinary photographic film.
During his career at Goldsholl, Miller contributed to many of these projects, and was the primary designer at the studio of the new packaging and identity for 7-up in the mid 1970's. http://designers421.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/blackdesigners.pdf "The inspiration for the design just came to me" he said once during and interview. "What better way to represent graphically the effervescence
Effervescence
Effervescence might refer to one of the following:*Effervescence is the escape of gas from an aqueous solution.*Collective effervescence is a perceived energy formed by a gathering of people....
of a carbonated beverage than by using circles as the basis of the design". For this project and others he earned several awards for both him and for his company.
He was the first African American to break into the mainstream profession of graphic artist, and during the 1950s and 60's was one of few to maintain a membership in traditional trade organizations like The Society of Typographical Arts. Connections such as these were necessary to maintain and advance one's career,.
Independent work
Miller's career as an independent artist began unwittingly during the time he was stationed in Europe during World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. With the shortages caused by the war, Miller's media by necessity was whatever he could lay his hands on - proper paper, pencils, paint and chalk were hard to come by - but never one to pass on an opportunity to paint, draw or sketch, Miller took whatever art paraphernalia he could improvise and went out on his free time to artistically record the beauty that was still Europe. This frequently led to a spontaneous commission, where Miller would part with his current project for pocket change (or equally as often by making a gift of it) when a passer-by stopped to admire his work. After the war and while he worked at Goldsholl Associates, Miller continued as an independent artist both by private commission and by displaying his work at various venues. It was at a show at Hyde Park
Hyde Park, Chicago
Hyde Park, located on the South Side of the City of Chicago, in Cook County, Illinois, United States and seven miles south of the Chicago Loop, is a Chicago neighborhood and one of 77 Chicago community areas. It is home to the University of Chicago, the Hyde Park Art Center, the Museum of Science...
in Chicago that Miller was approached by Margaret Taylor-Burroughs, then director of the DuSable Museum, to create some kind of memorial to the museum's founders. This meeting resulted in the creation of the Thomas Miller mosaics.
Miller also used his talents to copy the works of better known artists for collectors who either couldn't afford the originals or because by their very nature they were unavailable. For these commissions, the "copies" were always made different in some respect, either by a change in the size or color, or by the addition of some feature which only a side-by-side comparison of the original would reveal. This was an opportunity for Miller to study the style and technique of other artists, and served as an educational experience for him.
Archives
The papers of Thomas Miller are archived at the University of Illinois at Chicago and include photographs, proofsheets, slides, award certificates, realia, prototypes, calendars, periodicals and samples of his designs for industry.(7-UP, MIC, Betty Crocker's Chicken Helper, children's textbooks etc. are found throughout the papers and in the photographic images, slides and realia. STA: The 100 Show, 1961, 1986, and Simpson Connections Calendar, 1985 were transferred into the Special Collections Rare Book Collection.)
Listing of selected works
Over the course of a career (both independent and professional) that so far has spanned nearly three quarters of a century, Miller has produced over 1000 works of art that include internationally recognized corporate branding, illustrations for books, lithographs, drawings, sculptures, and various other projects. Below is a chronological listing of some of his more important and notable work.At Morton Goldsholl
(As chief designer)- 1976 - Redesign of the branding for 7 Up7 Up7 Up is a brand of a lemon-lime flavored non-caffeinated soft drink. The rights to the brand are held by Dr Pepper Snapple Group in the United States, and PepsiCo in the rest of the world, including Puerto Rico, where the concentrate is manufactured at the Pepsi facility in Cidra...
(As a supporting member of the design team)
- c.1961 - MotorolaMotorolaMotorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
rebrandingBrandThe American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."... - c.1961 - Peace CorpsPeace CorpsThe Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...
logo - c.1973 - Betty CrockerBetty CrockerBetty Crocker AKA: batter witch is a cultural icon, as well as brand name and trademark of American Fortune 500 corporation General Mills. The name was first developed by the Washburn Crosby Company in 1921 as a way to give a personalized response to consumer product questions. The name Betty was...
"Chicken HelperHamburger HelperHamburger Helper is a line of packaged food products primarily consisting of boxed pasta bundled with a packet or packets of powdered sauce/seasonings. The contents of each box are combined with browned ground beef, water and milk to create a complete dish. The product line also features products...
" branding
As an independent artist
- Founders Mosaics - DuSable Museum of African American History
The founders' murals are Miller's magnum opus, and beautifully demonstrate the creativity that is typical of his work. Unlike traditional mosaic that is made with earthenware or glass tile, these are made from thousands of pieces of plastic that were harvested from plastic egg crate light diffusers which were then individually colored and arranged to create the images in the series. "Anybody can do an oil painting," he said during an interview, "but to take a face and do it with squares is hard. They have to be turned at an angle to catch the light".
In addition to portraits of the founders, the series includes a portrait of Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, and a collage depicting the history of Chicago.
External links
- DuSable Museum of African American History - Current Exhibits - Thomas Miller Mosaics
- http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/biography.asp?bioindex=407&category=Artmakers&occupation=Artist%20%26%20Graphic%20Designer&name=Thomas%20Miller The HistoryMakers - Artmakers - Thomas Miller Biography. Accessed 07/10/2010.