When she was 6 years old, Amy Miller played Gretel in her church’s production of Hansel and Gretel. The experience of curling her hair, wearing mascara and taking to the stage impacted her so much that the arts have been a part of her life ever since.
Now the shop manager at the Georgia Museum of Art, Miller continues to be surrounded by the arts in both her personal and professional lives. As shop manager, Miller is responsible for maintaining the art museum’s shop, something she likens to being a business owner.
“This is essentially a small business,” she said. “Everything you’d have to do for a small business, I’m doing here-ordering, buying, inventory control, financial reports, money management.”
Miller is responsible for handling any interest in the art museum’s wholesale publications that it produces in-house. She also manages three to four federal work-study students and some volunteers.
The art museum’s shop is open Tuesday through Sunday every week. The shop only closes for major holidays.
“Since I’m the only museum staff person in charge of the shop, I’m essentially on-call whenever I’m not here,” Miller said. “There have been times when I’m out of town or on vacation and answering questions about the cash register.”
Part of her role as shop manager includes deciding what merchandise to sell. Miller coordinates the inventory with the current exhibitions at the museum, something that can take many phone calls to various sales representatives.
“When I’m not out here on the floor helping customers, I’m researching new products for shows coming up,” Miller said. “We really want everything in the shop to reflect what’s in the galleries and to extend the visitor’s experience so that they can take a little bit of that exhibition home with them.”
The shop does not sell many reproductions of artworks-just some prints and postcards-so Miller often has to take the exhibition and interpret it to determine what items to sell.
“What I have to do is translate and find things that speak of the period or style of the exhibition while also keeping the artistic integrity of it,” she said.
A native Athenian, Miller managed the Athens-Clarke County Library’s shop before coming to the art museum. Before the library, she held various positions at the Classic Center Theatre.
During her time away from work, Miller remains committed to the arts. She’s served on the Athens Area Arts Council board and held many titles, including president, on the Town & Gown Players’ board of directors.
Miller credits her parents’ influence for her passion for the arts. Miller’s father was a professor in the UGA sociology department, and her mother taught in the local school system. They ensured that Miller was exposed to the arts throughout childhood.
“I was definitely raised to appreciate all kinds of art and cultural things,” she said. “I don’t ever remember us going on a family vacation that was just sitting on the beach and laying around for a week. If we went somewhere, we were always going to a museum, play or concert.”
Miller continued acting throughout her childhood and eventually took the stage in a production by the Town & Gown Players when she was 16. Since then, she’s volunteered with the group regularly. Miller has directed shows, acted as stage manager and performed in plays. She also has created many of the costumes for the group.
“I did my first show with Town & Gown in 1988, and I’ve met some of my closest friends in the world there,” Miller said. “It’s like a big family. It’s really been central to my life.”
