Out of the Blueberry Fields P.R. Miller re-emerges from his Wizard’s Lair with a new gallery exhibition WORDS AND PHOTOS BY DEREK KREIDER
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unkman, artist and self-styled wizard P.R. Miller returns to Akron with a showing of his work entitled “Present and Retro,” opening July 10, 2021 at the Summit Artspace in the Betty and Howard Taylor & Welcome Galleries. “Present and Retro” spans Miller’s entire art career, from his early ceramic work as a freshman in high school to the blown glass pieces from his time at Penland School of Craft in 1980, as well as more contemporary, newer work, like his flower sculptures made from scrap metal and pieces that will debut at the show opening,
including, as Miller puts it, “One of the best lamps I think I’ve ever made.” The show is his first after a long hiatus. “I’m trying to, shall I say, come back out of the closet,” Miller says, “and at least show myself that I’ve still got something. I don’t know what, but something.” Akronites may recognize Miller’s work. He’s responsible for the humongous, rusted metal frog outside the Highland Square Library
and was Stan Hywet’s artist-inresidency in 2008. “The only one they ever had,” Miller says, “and they haven’t done it since. I had 125 of my giant flowers all over Stan Hywet for a year.”
from recycled goods. Whether it’s scrap copper wire people throw away or this black thing,” he says, picking up a piece of equipment that already looks like a sculpture. “That’s actually part of Ohio Edison’s devices for attaching power lines to the telephone poles.”
Gypsy Grace and the Vintage Goat, a boutique shop on W. Market Street, carries wizard wands he made from gnarled blueberry roots found on the farm where he lives.
The tables he’s making for the show are topped by solid plastic puddles repurposed from the Rubbermaid plant on Gilchrist Road.
“The majority of my artwork comes
“Every time they change a product
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rip.com Akron’s Community-Owned Magazine
July 2021 · Vol 9 · Issue #7
The Devil Strip
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