I met my friend Craige a few weeks ago in New York City. She said she checked this site often yet still asked, "What are you up to lately?" So now, I apologize to all of you for how far behind I am in blogging. On February 6, 2019, I was given the Mississippi Governor's Award for Excellence in Visual Arts at the Old Capital Building in Jackson, MS. The award ceremony was a fabulous experience and I'm still processing it. Malcolm White, head of the Mississippi Arts Commission, Betsy Bradley and the folks from the Mississippi Museum of Art (who nominated me and have been great supporters of mine), representatives of the Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art (which gave me my first solo show) and all the movers and shakers of the arts in Mississippi were there. I was presented with a unique statue (the arts oscar of MS) and a beautiful plaque that was read aloud into the official minutes at the Mississippi legislature. The governor's wife, Mrs. Phil Bryant, was kind enough to take me on a personal tour of the governor's mansion where she pointed out the bed Senator John F. Kennedy slept in when he visited as well as the one that hosted Leontyne Price, the famous African American opera singer. She allowed me to sign the attic wall as have notable visitors in the past. Some of my family were in attendance too to round out the whole ceremony. On August 6, 2019, I received an Honored Artist award from the Mississippi State Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts (Washington, D.C.). There is a lovely article about me and my work on TextileArtist.org. It really goes into my creative process. Here's a link to it: www.textileartist.org/ruth-miller-life-sized-storytelling-in-stitch I imagine most of you are excited about the world of contemporary textiles. This a major source. Visit them and catch up. |
In the Fall issue of OxfordAmerican.org, there's an article by a great Mississippi journalist William Browning. This one covers a lot of my life story, especially as it concerns my art and how this New York City-born artist came to be a Mississippi artist. The Oxford American is a national magazine with deep insights on what's going on down South. Check it out here:
www.oxfordamerican.org/magazine/item/1822-a-long-yarn
www.oxfordamerican.org/magazine/item/1822-a-long-yarn