People of the Ridge: An Artist Who Thinks and Paints “Big”

People of the Ridge: An Artist Who Thinks and Paints “Big”

History is made every day by people involved in interesting situations. “The People of the Ridge” series features local people, past and present, from the Blue Island Ridge. This article explores the current work of a Beverly artist.

By Carol Flynn, Ridge Historical Society

More than a hundred years ago, city planners had the foresight to recommend that the land that included the northern tip of the Blue Island Ridge be preserved for its scenic beauty and historical and scientific significance. In 1917, the Cook County Board of Commissioners purchased this land, the “Beverly woods,” to be part of the new forest preserves district.

A report from the time described the woods as “the beauty spot of the south side,” with “picturesque scenery such as found nowhere else in the county.” This preserve, centered around 87th Street and Western Avenue on the south side of Chicago, was officially named the Dan Ryan Woods in 1924 to honor the late Cook County Board president.

Forty years before that, an 1884 newspaper article described the woods as “a forest so dense that to get lost in it is an easy thing….” The article lauded the great oaks, elms, basswoods, hickories, and wild cherry trees found in the woods, as well as the deep ravines, home to plentiful wildlife. The article stated that the woods were a favorite place for artists to visit for inspiration. Artists "came from afar to make nature studies" on the Ridge.

Continuing that tradition today is Elaine Miller, an artist who lives in North Beverly just steps away from the Dan Ryan Woods. Miller has only lived on the Ridge for five years, but she has earned a reputation and following for her local public artwork, which includes "big" murals and billboards. Her message is also “big” in concept – protecting the environment.

Miller’s current exhibit, “Remnants and Remains,” at the Beverly Arts Center (BAC), 2407 West 111th Street, is scheduled to run until December 8, 2020. This one-woman show features paintings based on the vegetation and views at the Dan Ryan Woods, and explores the intersection of urban and natural spaces.

In addition to ten smaller works, the display includes four large canvases, 8 feet by 10 feet, created especially for this exhibit. Painted with acrylic and oil paints, they depict scenes from the woods in different seasons and times of the day. A viewer gets the sense these could be portals, as if a person could step through the paintings and enter right into the Dan Ryan Woods.

Miller loves being outdoors, and walks with her dog in the woods daily, stopping to photograph plants and scenes that appeal to her. More important for society, she is an environmentalist and delivers her message through her work. Understanding and protecting the environment is the theme of the exhibit.

“The environment is collapsing, and we need to start changing our practices,” said Miller, who also pointed out that denying the science of climate change does not make the situation go away.

“Urban forests and trees are very important, and we need to preserve them. We need to educate people on the regenerative processes of nature,” added Miller.

This exhibit builds upon an earlier project of Miller’s, a series of paintings displayed on a billboard on the 10100 block of Western Avenue. The project, “Remnants,” appeared in 2018, associated with the annual Beverly Art Walk, and was supported through grants from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and the Morgan Park Beverly Hills Business Association. The paintings depicted scenes from the Dan Ryan Woods, and one of the billboard paintings is included in the current exhibit.

“I wanted people to understand the billboard project. We are bombarded with advertising and this was an anti-advertising statement. These paintings, which included no words or logos, blended in with the environment,” said Miller.

The billboard project recalls the parody of Joyce Kilmer’s famous poem, “Trees,” that Ogden Nash wrote in 1932:

"I think that I shall never see / A billboard lovely as a tree. / Perhaps, unless the billboards fall, /I’ll never see a tree at all."

Miller already had a well-established career in the arts when she decided to move to Beverly. She was born in Cleveland, and her life’s journey has taken her from southern Ontario to North Carolina to Chicago. Her original dream was to go into journalism and be a foreign correspondent from Rome. She was also interested in becoming an architect. She pursued an arts path, and has three degrees, a Bachelor of Fine Arts in printmaking and graphic arts, a Master of Arts in printmaking and painting, and a Master of Fine Arts in painting and drawing. That last degree brought her to Illinois, where she attended Northern Illinois University (NIU) in DeKalb.

One of her interesting early “big” projects came during her time in DeKalb. Looking for a summer job, she saw a notice on the board at the NIU career center. The owner of a hog farm in the area was looking for someone who could paint murals to help display his collection of taxidermized animals. Miller contacted the man, who turned out to be a big-game hunter who wanted to turn one of his barns into a showplace for his trophy kills, including an elephant and giraffe.

Although far from enthused by the reason for the exhibit, Miller took on the project as her first mural job, researching and painting nature scenes from Africa and other continents on the walls of the barn. She worked on the project on weekends through the fall. The project “came out pretty good,” in Miller’s words.

Becoming hooked on the arts scene in Chicago, which at the time included numerous gallery openings and exhibits, Miller decided to stay here for her career. She was joined by her boyfriend, sculptor Bob Bartlett, and now they have been married for 32 years and have a son, Mason Bartlett. Bob works with Chicago Scenic Studios, a company that designs, builds, and manages everything from theater sets to museum displays to corporate trade show booths.

Miller’s career has included office manager for an art shipper; artist with a small backdrop company and her own mural company - a mural painted during this time still adorns North Pond Café in Lincoln Park; scenic artist working at places like the Lyric Theater; and even real estate agent in Oak Park. She was a member of the union for construction crews on movie sets. Miller taught art history, art appreciation, photography, drawing and design at different campuses for Robert Morris College/University (now Robert Morris Experimental College of Roosevelt University) for the graphic design program. She teaches classes at the Beverly Arts Center.

Before moving to Beverly, Miller and her husband and son lived in Oak Park for 16 years. Miller began visiting the Ridge because of her friendship with Carla Winterbottom, whom she met at NIU. Winterbottom was the Curator at BAC and Miller helped hang exhibits.

“I fell in love with Beverly, the architecture, the space. It was less crowded but still the city. The establishment of the Beverly Area Arts Alliance was the final draw. I feel committed to the community here,” said Miller. She and her family moved to Beverly in 2015.

One of Miller's first projects on the Ridge was prior to the billboards. In 2017, she was commissioned to paint a mural on the side of the building on 95th Street just east of Longwood Drive. Visible from the parking lot that houses the 95th Street Farmer’s Market on Sunday mornings from spring through early fall, the mural was supported by funding from the Beverly Arts Center and the 95th Street Business Association. Final touches to the painting were added just last month.

The mural depicts the transition of the area from a rural to an urban community, emphasizing agriculture, another important part of local history. At about 100 feet long, this was another “big” project for Miller.

“I love to work big. It doesn’t intimidate me at all. In fact, I prefer it to working small,” said Miller.

It would be difficult to get more “local arts scene” than Miller’s current exhibit at the BAC. In fact, Miller calls it “hyper-local.” It features a local artist’s paintings of local scenery shown at a local gallery. Miller commended Jake Saunders, the immediate past Curator at BAC, for arranging the exhibit.

Because of the pandemic, the hours for the exhibit may vary. Visitors are advised to call ahead to BAC at 773/445-3838 for current hours. BAC is following all coronavirus precautions so visitors should bring their masks.

The Ridge Historical Society (RHS) is also participating in the exhibit. Recently, RHS ran a lengthy series on the history of Dan Ryan Woods on its Facebook page, in response to Miller’s exhibit plans. This series in included in print in a notebook at the exhibit.

In the 1870s, the term “the lungs of the city” started to be used to emphasize the importance of urban parks where city dwellers could breathe clean air. A “green space” like Dan Ryan Woods not only benefits the community recreationally and aesthetically, but also ecologically. Trees absorb pollutants and remove carbon dioxide from the air, and release oxygen.

Elaine Miller knows this. Her paintings not only celebrate the visual beauty of Beverly's urban oasis, the Dan Ryan Woods, they deliver an important message about the environment.

“This is art about my community, making people aware of the natural world in this area. Being in the city, it’s limited, but for an urban area it’s unbelievable. There is a lot of natural space here, and it is sustainable and regenerative,” said Miller.

For more information on the work of this Ridge artist who thinks and works “big,” visit her website at emillerstudio.com.