Reuben Aaron “R.A.” Miller
1912-2006By Randall Lott, From Folk Art Messenger. Vol. 18, No. 3. Spring/Summer 2006.
One of Georgia’s most beloved folk artists died March 7, 2006, at a nursing home in Commerce, Ga. Until his recent illness, R.A. Miller, 93, spent his entire life on his family’s land in the unincorporated Rabbittown, north of Gainesville, Ga. His house was built of the remaining scraps of his original family home, which had been destroyed by a catastrophic tornado in 1936. Miler was the youngest of eight children. His father was shot and killed on Christmas Day in 1911, and his family lived a hardscrabble life, farming cotton, beans and other crops on their hilly 100 acres. As a boy, Miller supplemented the family supplies by hunting, fishing and collecting herbs for medicinal purposes.
He later worked as an auctioneer and a farmer and also at the New Holland textile factory for 20 years. He embraced religion soon after marrying and started preaching in tent revivals in northeast Georgia, eventually becoming an ordained minister.
Miller began making art after a back injury forced his retirement from the textile factory, and he soon filled a hillside on his property with more than 100 whirligigs. In 1984, Michael Stipe, lead singer of the Athens-based rock band R.E.M., discovered this whirligig environment and used it as the setting for the band’s video, Left of Reckoning. This musical exposure brought Miller widespread attention, yet he continued to make and sell his work at reasonable prices and live much the same as he always had. He marveled at the collectors and dealers that flocked to his home to buy what he often referred to as “junk.” He did not see himself as an artist but as a preacher spreading the biblical message far and wide.
Miller’s art can be roughly divided into three categories: religious subjects, animals and people. His output consisted mainly of tin cutouts, drawings and whirligigs. A recurring character known as “Blow Oskar” represented his cousin Oscar, who would announce himself as he passed by Miller’s house by honking his car horn. His religious subjects cover both the good (angels) and the evil (devils) and were often inscribed with the words “Lord Love You.” His animals range from the everyday to the exotic and are usually colorful and covered with complementary-colored dots. The works range in size from small to nearly life-size. In later years, some of his five children and grandchildren helped Miller with his art-making.
Miller’s widespread appeal is remarkable; his exuberant tin cutouts and drawings are collected the world over. Works are as likely to be found on the patio of a trendy restaurant in midtown Atlanta as in a flower bed outside a small coffee shop in Montevallo, Ala. One of his American flags graced the cover of a regional issue of TV Guide memorializing the events of 9/11. A prolific artist, Miller produced an astounding number of works, which have been exhibited in most major shows of folk art, including Passionate Visions of the American South: Self-Taught Artists from 1940 to the Present, New Orleans Museum of Art, in 1993.
Shortly before Miller died, a retrospective exhibition of his work, R.A. Miller: A Tribute, opened in the Simmons Visual Arts Center at Brenau University in Gainesville. A panel discussion was held on opening night featuring senior editor of Art Papers magazine Jerry Cullum, Folk Art Messenger reporter Lynne Brown and co-curator of the exhibition, artist Michael Murrell. The evening also featured the premiere of Murrell’s documentary film about R.A. Miller. Accompanied by a full-color catalogue, the exhibition was extended through April 2 as a memorial to the artist. The catalogue can be ordered from Simmons Visual Arts Center, Brenau University, 500 Washington St., SE, Gainesville, GA 30501, for $30
