Scott Miller has long had a strong love for collecting art and the city of Birmingham. The avid collector has spent decades visiting the finest public and private art galleries around the world in addition to building his own impressive collection–and is now showcasing some of his network of high-profile pieces to Magic City residents and out-of-town visitors at Scott Miller Projects. The space is a part of the impressive new experience found at Mercantile on Morris, and signifies new heights for a city that continues to rise as an art destination.
The next three exhibits are great examples of the beautiful creations that are found at the gallery throughout the year. First will be the return of the esteemed Andrew Faris, followed by an exhibition of Works on Paper by Birmingham favorite Roscoe Hall, then a group exhibition curated by Jason Stopa which will include works by artists Kimia Ferdowsi Kline and Justine Hill. Scott Miller Projects will also be showing a solo presentation of Roscoe’s work at the Dallas Art Fair in April.
“I have been interested in art ever since I was young. I was ordering auction catalogs from Christie’s and Sotheby’s when I was in junior high school,” he recollects, “and ordering art publications from galleries in New York and all over the country while I was in high school and college. I started collecting my professor's work when I was a student at The University of Alabama.” This professor, called Al Sella by those who knew him, impacted many inspiring artists–and Scott Miller was at the front of the ranks. Sella “never drove. (He) rode his bike to the university everyday and was the sort of quintessential artist type. In his studio, always wearing a tie and sitting there talking about art all day long. That was really my intro (to collecting).”
After graduating, Miller moved back to Birmingham where he worked at an agency for about 6 years. After that he opened his own Miller Communications, which has operated for 24 years now. “That sort-of creative world has always been a part of my life,” Scott shares–but it became a much bigger part after he met then-Birmingham Museum of Art Curator and art curator David Moos and joined the museum’s Collector’s Circle. David and Scott became close friends (they still are to this day although David moved to Canada to take the title as the Contemporary Curator at the Art Gallery of Ontario and later as an independent art dealer), and worked together when Scott became president of the circle to plan art excursions with fellow collectors, UAB students, and more. “We started traveling as a group looking at art. Visiting studios, museums, private collections all over the country and some in Europe.”
Scott kept the travel plans going after David moved, and was acquiring more art along the way while also helping his peers find their perfect matches as well. “I kept building my own collection over the last 30 years, and also helping place works in both private and public collections,” Miller explains, “I did that out of passion for a very long time because my love for the art and helping collectors finding specific works that they may not have access to.” While a gallery had always been a goal, it never felt necessary until recent years.
“I decided during COVID while we were all sort of quarantined that I was interested in cleaning out my office, putting up a couple shows a year, and inviting some collectors to come by and see it,” the art enthusiast shares, “Then I thought, ‘You know what this is something that I’ve been wanting to do for quite a long time–almost three decades’ and decided that we needed to start looking for a space. I found the space in the Mercantile building which was absolutely perfect. It was just the right size, great location, the plaza area is perfect for our opening. My goal was to bring works to Birmingham that have either been acquired by major institutions or by great private collectors, and works that you would see in traveling to a much bigger art-centric city like New York or LA.”
Scott Miller Projects opened in June 2021, and has only flourished since. “It’s been great. In our small little space in Birmingham, Alabama we have been fortunate enough to work with some great collectors. Of course we have placed some amazing works that we have shown in the gallery, but I’ve also helped place works in local collections that my collectors have been interested in acquiring that we have not shown,” Miller shares, going on to name art that found homes in Germany, Australia, La Hoya, New York, Dallas, Houston, and more–all from this Magic City connection. “We’ve been fortunate to get the work out to the world. It’s been great.”
While Scott Miller Projects attracts avid art collectors from around the world, the gallery places an equal focus on being accessible to the city they call home. Scott has a true love for art, and part of that passion is a joy for “letting people know about the artist's background and what they’re trying to communicate.” He can often be found sitting in the plaza smoking a cigar while doing some work, and will “have people come and just spend an hour with me and talk about the work, and about the artist. I think galleries can be intimidating, especially if you’re in a city like New York or LA you can have a very different experience. I want to make sure that everybody realizes that no matter if you know very little about the arts or tons about the arts, I’m always interested in learning more about the collectors and people interested in our work.”
The space is intentionally designed to be a comfortable, welcoming place for all levels of art enthusiasts. “The art world can be very intimidating, and there’s perception issues that if you don’t have a lot of money then you can’t buy art and that’s so not the case,” Miller shares–noting that his gallery aims to change that way of thinking. “It’s a wide range and my thought is that you of course have to buy what you love, because you have to live with it every day,” he shares, “If you love it and it adds value to your life, it’s an amazing thing living with art. It really does change you–it changes a person.”
The type of work shown by Scott Millers Projects is just as diverse as the level of art enthusiasts they bring in. “We have shown artists that have been in their early 70s, and we’ve shown artists that were in their late 20s/early 30s. We’ve shown figurative work. We’ve shown abstraction. We’ve shown hard-edged color field works. It’s no so much about a specific style of work,” the gallery’s founder shares, “We want to make sure that whatever type of work we show is of a certain quality. We want to bring works that hopefully now and years from now will be looked at as if they have an important place in the overall context of our history.”
People also come in to ask about the value of works they inherited or collected, and all sorts of other random questions. “We’re there as a resource, and we’re there for people who are interested in art,” Miller shares. Just as important to the gallery are the people who may not be ready to purchase a painting, but just value the importance of beautiful works of art. “They want to learn about it. They want to hear about the artists. That for me is just as important as a collector coming in and purchasing a work. There’s nothing better than living with a great work of art,” the curator shares, “but I love people coming in talking about it.”
Scott Miller never had to stay in Birmingham. His profession and his passion could have taken him to a variety of famous art cities–but the creative connoisseur has always known his purpose was in the Magic City. “I was born and raised here, and there’s something about this city that I love. We have a majorly sophisticated art community and collector base here. A lot of our collectors are known nationally and internationally with their relationships with dealers all over the world,” Miller shares, “What our museum and institutions are doing–whether it be the Birmingham Museum of Art or AEIVA at UAB–in terms of their exhibition schedules and the artists that they are bringing. They’ve brought some major artists over the last 30 years and put on some incredible shows. There’s just something about being in Birmingham that I wouldn't trade for anything.”
He not only appreciates being in the Magic City–Miller is appreciative of the artists who call it home and aims to highlight Southern creatives with his platform. “There’s a lot of talented artists in this city and the Southeast. That’s a big thing for us as well. We want to make sure that part of our program includes artists not only from Birmingham, but the Southeast.”
Whether it’s highlighting Southeastern artists to the world, or bringing world-class masterpieces to Birmingham–Scott Miller Projects is making waves in the Magic City.
Cover art by Roscoe Hall
