A lecture by Richard McDermott Miller is now available online through Skowhegan’s website. LISTEN HERE

Miller’s work is rooted in sculpture, with a primary interest in figurative sculpture. Miller immerses himself in mediums such as bronze, plaster, plexiglass, and painting. Miller tells the participants the importance of choosing something of their own and intensely studying it; with subject, medium, and style coming secondary to that. Miller says that it is important for artists to find a suitable problem that they can figure out. Miller ends his lecture stating that figurative art isn’t a return to a past, but instead a rejection of the immediate past and the art establishment.

The Lecture Archive is the core of The Library and one of Skowhegan’s most important sources of inspiration and research. It is a living archive connecting past and present through a wide array of artistic forms and practices by the many artists who were faculty at Skowhegan.

The Lecture Archive began in 1952 and includes nearly 800 lectures mostly by visual artists, but also from poets, architects, philosophers, journalists, curators, historians, and choreographers. The lectures at Skowhegan weave our collective and expanded history by connecting the artistic imagination to a flow of ideas, political and social contexts.

Richard McDermott Miller (1922-2004) was a sculptor and educator in New York, NY. He was a part president of the National Sculpture Society. The NSS’ annual clay modeling competition is currently named for him.