Evolving as a Maker
Thanks to an Internship Award, Jacob Miller spent last summer working alongside sculptor and furniture designer Christopher Kurtz.
“I didn’t think that I would be accepted when I applied to RISD,” recalls Jacob Miller 19 FD. “Although my school’s curriculum intertwined art into every class, including science and math, it was an internship with a product designer in Atlanta that led me to apply.”
Once accepted, Miller and his parents worried about paying tuition, but a scholarship from RISD “greatly lessens the blow of full tuition,” says Miller.
When he arrived on campus he thought he would major in Industrial Design, but a hands-on making process he experienced during a Wintersession course swayed him to study Furniture Design. In true RISD fashion, his creative direction continues to evolve. “Recently, I have become more interested with sculpture and nonfunctional objects in my work because I enjoy the more deeply engaged intellectual process that this work entails.”
This past summer he interned at the Christopher Kurtz Studio in Kingston, New York. “I developed wooden sculptures for Kurtz’s upcoming solo exhibition at Patrick Parrish Gallery in New York City and completed commissions for clients,” recalls Miller. “His practice caught my eye because of his similar interests in craft, sculpture and design.” A Parents’ Council Internship Award made his enriching summer experience possible. “It allowed me to pursue an unpaid and out-of-state summer position that otherwise would not have been financially feasible,” says Miller.
