Making It ‘Brilliant’ is Part of the Art at St. Joseph’s Indian School

Students at St. Joseph’s Indian School received lessons on the role of science and technology in image making from visiting artist Bob H. Miller. And there was nothing subtle about it. Miller is a lover of brilliant, saturated and bright colors.

His trick? The black light. 

Miller works with students to make art that, perhaps somewhat plain under the ordinary classroom light, fluoresces under the ultraviolet wavelength. “Kids love it,” he exclaims.

“It was fun and it was cool,” said fifth grader Amelia.

Classmate Bradley added, “I like it when it glows.”

Miller has enthralled students at St. Joseph’s Indian School for nearly 30 years, almost since he first began doing artist-in-residence visits at the school.

“St. Joseph’s is a great institution with great people,” he comments, noting that this is his fifth or sixth visit.

A diverse and prolific studio artist, black light art is one of the first art formats Miller encountered, teaching himself “the wavelengths” as a high school student.

“I love the bright colors glowing under the black light and seeing the students’ reactions,” he said.

The visit was made possible in part through the South Dakota Arts Council Artists in Schools & Communities (AISC). AISC is a residency program for K-12 schools and community organizations, with matching funds from the South Dakota Arts Council.

Author: St. Joseph's Indian School

At St. Joseph's Indian School, our privately-funded programs for Lakota (Sioux) children in need have evolved over 90 years of family partnership, experience and education. Because of generous friends who share tax-deductible donations, Native American youth receive a safe, stable home life; individual counseling and guidance; carefully planned curriculum based on Lakota culture and individual student needs and tools to help build confidence, boost self-esteem and improve cultural awareness. All of this helps children to live a bright, productive, possibility-filled future.

3 thoughts on “Making It ‘Brilliant’ is Part of the Art at St. Joseph’s Indian School”

  1. I love that the students at St. Joseph’s are getting exposure to the art world. It’s a very important part of a young person’s education, I believe.

    1. Hi there! If you would like, you can visit http://www.stjo.org/give to give an online donation. Where was it that you were attempting to give and it was not working? We would like to look into that. Thank you so much for your generosity!

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