Early next year, the Corrales Bosque Gallery will host a month-long homage and memorial sale in honor of Mel Miller, an important figure in the Corrales arts scene, who died in 2020.
Miller, along with his wife, Arlene, was a founding member of the 28-year-old Corrales Bosque Gallery. A life-long painter and illustrator, Miller designed the logo still in use by the gallery.
After serving as a medic in WWII, Miller graduated from the Art Institute in Chicago. He worked as an illustrator, art director and painter for many years in Chicago before moving to New Mexico in the early 1990s for retirement.
He sold postcards at the gallery for $2, and gallery envelopes were often enhanced by one of his cartoons. Miller and his wife remained as active members of the gallery until each passed on. Arlene Miller died in 2005 and he followed her some 15 years later, leaving behind a large body of work that will be featured in the memorial sale.
A gallery representative calls the upcoming event “A rare opportunity to see much of Mel’s work in one space and available for sale.†With participation from Miller’s family, the event will run the entire month of January 2022. Eighty percent of the proceeds from the sales will be given to the family, and the rest to the gallery.
Corrales Bosque Gallery is located at 4685 Corrales Road, in the Mercado de Mayo. Masks are required to enter the gallery which is open daily from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.