Tom Miller

Artist Innovator: Afro Deco

The National Aquarium in Baltimore, 1996 color screenprint, 19 x 34

See Think Wonder

What do you see in the picture? What do you think is happening and what was the artist trying to tell you with this picture? What does this picture make you wonder about?

This mural is one of at least 7 murals that Tom Miller created through the mural projects of the Office of Promotion and the Arts Program.

HOWEVER FAR THE STREAM FLOWS, IT NEVER FORGETS ITS SOURCE

40 x 40 foot Mural at corner of Harford and North Avenues, Baltimore, MD, 1991

Story Time

Can A Coal Scuttle Fly

By Camay Calloway Murphy and Tom Miller

Tom Miller 1945–2000

Tom Miller was born in the Sandtown neighborhood of Baltimore, MD on October 13,1945. He attended Carver Vocational High School and earned a scholarship to The Maryland Institute College of Art in 1963. After graduation Miller taught in the Baltimore Public School System for two decades. He returned to MICA to earn his masters degree in fine art in 1987 subsequently retiring from teaching and becoming a full-time artist. It is noted by Leslie King-Hammond, dean of graduate students at MICA, that Miller was a standout student in graduate school. There he developed his style of “Afro-Deco” from found objects and discarded furniture pieces.

In 1995, Miller became one of the first African-American artists from Baltimore to be given a one-man show at the BMA. The exhibition was a joint effort between the museum and Maryland Art Place.

He practiced the African principle of Sankofa, carrying on the traditions of the past in order to liberate the future.

https://visualaids.org/artists/tom-miller

https://www.stevenscottgallery.com/artists_miller_article.html

https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2000-06-24-0006240003-story.html

https://thelyfe.wordpress.com/2012/12/30/tom-miller-eccentrically-championing-black-art-in-baltimore/

Assignment 1: Drawing

Think about what makes you a Baltimorean: is it your family, a favorite place, an event that happens in your community, a style of clothing that is unique to Baltimore, a favorite food.
Make some sketches of the things that make you think of this: for example if it was a family barbeque; where was it, what did you eat, who was there, what activities did you do while you were there.
Set up your page: draw a frame or border around the outside of you page. Use a pattern of bright colors to fill in your shapes.
Look at your sketches: plan how you can use them to tell your story. Draw the images for your composition inside the frame you have created.
Color in your image, use whatever media you have: colored pencil, marker, paint or collage paper or magazines for example.
Create a title for your artwork that explains a little about what you were thinking or feeling when you created this work.

Summer in Baltimore,1994

color screenprint, 24" x 32"

edition of 195

Hope Lives Here, 1998

lithographed poster

Maryland Crab Feast,1994

color screenprint, 24 1/2 x 32”

edition of 195

Assignment 2: Make a chair

1. Create a pop up using the tutorials below.

2. Pick a theme for your chair. It can be anything you are interested in, something in your community, an event your enjoyed...the sky is the limit.

3. Draw the back the chair on the top part of the card. (Think of your chair as a throne and go big if you want)

4. The flat part of of the pop up is the seat of the chair. You can "paint" it with decorations, or draw a cushion on it).

5. Add the legs of your chair onto the front of the popped out tab. The legs can be as ornate or simplistic as you like, but try to make them reflect the theme of your chair.

6. You may add further decorations to your work like furniture or rugs decorating the room the chair is in.

7. You may use any drawing materials you wish, or explore using magazine or construction paper collage to decorate your chair.