Rick Mills (born 1957) is an American

glass art Glass art refers to individual works of art that are substantially or wholly made of glass. It ranges in size from monumental works and installation pieces to wall hangings and windows, to works of art made in studios and factories, including glas ...

ist who was born and raised in

Marion, Ohio Marion is a city in and the county seat of Marion County, Ohio, Marion County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in north-central Ohio, approximately north of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus. The population was 35,999 at the 2020 United S ...

. He received his bachelor of fine art degree in sculpture from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

, where the art department reopened its glass program in 1980, during Mills last semester. He moved to Hawai'i in 1981 and earned a master of fine art degree, also in sculpture, from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where he is currently professor and director of the

program. His recent works often encapsulate figurative elements in cast glass, as in ''Once Empty, Twice Full'' in the collection of the

Hawaii State Art Museum The No. 1 Capitol District Building, on the site of the former Armed Services YMCA Building, now houses the Hawaii State Art Museum and the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. History While they were both in the cabinet, under King ...

. The

Glasmuseet Ebeltoft Glasmuseet Ebeltoft is a museum in Ebeltoft, Denmark. It is dedicated to the exhibition and collection of contemporary glass art worldwide and also offers public demonstrations and seminars to glass students in its glass-blowing studio. Establis ...

(Ebeltoft, Denmark), the

, the Honolulu Museum of Art, the Museum of American Glass (Millville, New Jersey), and the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

(London) are among the museums holding works by Mills. His creations are permanently installed in these public locations: *''Spirit of Loyalty'' at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Queen Lili'uokalani Center for Student Services, cast glass and bronze sculpture, 1995 *''Reef Map'' at the Hawaii Convention Center, Ala Halawai Concourse, 3rd floor, glass, copper and stainless steel mural, 12 x 24 feet, 1998 *''Ka Piko'' (''The Center'') at

Leilehua High School Leilehua High School is a public, co-educational, college preparatory high school in Wahiawa, Hawaii on the island of Oahu. It is part of the Hawaii State Department of Education, nationally recognized as a Blue Ribbon School by the United States ...

in Wahiawā, Hawaii, sculptural glass mural, 10 x 16 feet, 2003 *''Healing Waters'' at the entrance lobby of the Maui Memorial Medical Center in

Kahului, Hawai'i Kahului () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Maui County in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It hosts the county's main airport (Kahului Airport), deep-draft harbor, light industrial areas, and commercial shopping centers. The population was 26,337 ...

, pair of glass wall sculptures, 11 x 21 feet each, 2007 *Mills is currently (2014) creating a series of five large scale monolithic cast glass sculptures for the new Hawai‘i State Public Library in

Mānoa Mānoa (, ) is a valley and a residential neighborhood of Honolulu, Hawaii. The neighborhood is approximately three miles (5 km) east and inland from downtown Honolulu and less than a mile (1600 m) from Ala Moana and Waikiki at . Neighbo ...

References

*Clarke, Joan and Diane Dods, ''Artists/Hawaii'', Honolulu, University of Hawai'i Press, 1996, 38–43. *Yoshihara, Lisa A., ''Collective Visions, 1967-1997, An Exhibition Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, Art in Public Places Program, Presented at the Honolulu Academy of Arts, September 3-October 12, 1997'', Honolulu, State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, 1997, page 99.

Footnotes

1957 births Living people 20th-century American sculptors 21st-century American sculptors Artists from Hawaii Modern sculptors American glass artists People from Marion, Ohio Ohio State University alumni University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni {{Glass-art-stub