The Darryl Chappell Foundation is thrilled to fund Cheryl’s artistic journey, providing a $5,000 stipend and access to a Darryl Chappell Foundation mentor. This is Light Work’s third year in partnership with the foundation.

A self-taught artist making images since childhood, Miller has more than forty years of experience documenting Black everyday life through photography.

Miller studied sociology and psychology at Bennett College in Greensboro, NC. She pursued graduate studies in city and regional planning at Pratt Institute. Her early serious study of photography included working part-time as a photo assistant to learn black-and-white film development, printing, and darkroom management for a photography studio while also navigating the demands of career and motherhood.

Miller’s passion for advocacy planning in community development led her to work in the community for nearly twenty years. She focused on the economic, social, and political development of communities, neighborhoods, and the people that made them thrive. Being in community informed her perspective, enabling her to capture the human experience visually. Miller’s powerful eye for images express the true kaleidoscope of experiences in African American culture.

Miller previously taught photography at The Tisch Department of Photography and Imaging at NYU. She was the 2023 summer artist-in-residence at the Beacon Gallery in Boston through a Mass Cultural Council 2023 Recovery Grant and she received the 2023 Scholarship at La Luz.

Cheryl’s Website