As a college student, you more than likely learned from adjuncts—the highly specialized faculty who teach one or two classes per semester. The university couldn’t function without them. But did you ever stop to wonder what they were doing when they weren’t at Bellarmine?
By Harry Rothgerber ’69
If creativity is contagious, then students in
Bellarmine's Art Department are fortunate to study under Douglas Miller, a professional artist whose drawings are exhibited in galleries, businesses and homes across the region and country. Miller, an adjunct art faculty professor, has taught at BU for five years while maintaining a notable presence in the local art community.
“Douglas came highly recommended as a recent MFA graduate when we were looking for new drawing and painting faculty,” said Sarah Martin, chair of Bellarmine’s Art Department. “Luckily, he is a master at both.”
Growing up in Evansville, Indiana, Miller became interested in art and artmaking at a very young age; he then became obsessed with drawing and worked hard to hone some basic drawing skills, ultimately leading to more advanced techniques.
“I found an aptitude for drawing and painting and those skillsets became a passion, or maybe the passion drove the proficiency,” he said. “Being encouraged by my parents and teachers really helped me focus on art and galvanized my fascinations.”
He attended the internationally renowned Ringling College of Art in Florida for several years. He planned to finish his BFA at the Art Institute of Chicago with a scholarship, but his plans changed as he moved, eventually stopping in Louisville 22 years ago. “In total, it took me 13 years to get my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree,” he recalled. “Stay in school, kids!”
“What is most meaningful to me is when students are engaged in the lessons and find an uncommon solution to some of the visual problems that we explore—it happens almost daily, and that is exciting!"
Education has been a major influence in his family—his mom, dad, stepdad and sister are all teachers. “After I earned my master’s degree,” he said, “I knew I wanted to teach at the college level, and after some graduate teaching assistantships, I became even more absorbed in the pedagogy of art education.”
In 2016, he received the Al Smith Individual Artist Fellowship from the Kentucky Arts Council and National Endowment for the Arts. “The Al Smith Fellowship is Kentucky’s highest individual artist fellowship,” he said. “It is an unrestricted award, so I used the funding to enhance my career by acquiring materials, traveling to exhibitions and exploring other mediums such as printmaking.”
“His paintings are alive and full of care. They are astonishing in person,” Martin said. “I love getting lost in the detail of his large-scale images; I find them remarkable. It's evident that he labored over each eye, bird wing, and moving stream.”
Miller is currently teaching Drawing II, Painting II, III, and IV, and Advanced Drawing. He has also taught Drawing I, Painting I, Figure Drawing I and II, 2D Design and Art Concepts. “I love assisting students and watching the visual progress they make over the semester.”
He continued, “What is most meaningful to me is when students are engaged in the lessons and find an uncommon solution to some of the visual problems that we explore—it happens almost daily, and that is exciting! Also, it means a lot when students reach out to me after graduating to let me know how transformative our drawing class was.”
“I've heard students say that they didn't believe they had a talent for drawing or painting until they had Douglas as a professor,” Martin said. “He has a way of bringing out the best in his students—he expects much, but there is always a huge payoff for the students who work hard in his class. He also is well-versed in contemporary art, which is extremely important to share with students.”
In reviewing Miller’s teaching, a past student commented: “I’ve been taking art classes my entire life, but I have never once had a teacher explain concepts the way he did—suddenly things clicked in my mind and he actually explained techniques in ways that made sense to me… He is one of those teachers I will never forget and [who] will have a lifelong impact on me.”
Miller regularly displays drawings at Louisville’s Edenside Gallery and various local venues. “I am a professional artist, so I’m very familiar with the ‘real world’ of art and design,” he said. “Most of my income is from exhibitions, commissions and illustration projects, so I know all too well the challenges of maintaining a business in the arts.”
Miller and his wife, a clinical psychologist, have been married for 16 years and live in the Highlands with their 13-year-old daughter.
When he’s not painting, he listens to his large collection of albums, writes songs or does Leonard Cohen impersonations on his baritone ukulele. “Additionally, I like to write strange little short stories and read science books,” he said.
He donates artwork to causes such as the Kentucky Humane Society and has also been involved in the Future is Now project of the Louisville Visual Arts Association, a mentoring project between artists and high school students.
When asked if he could really paint with his feet, as shown on his Facebook page, he responded, “I can! But all the paintings are terrible.”