Richard Kirk Mills was born in NYC and raised in NY and Long Island. He currently divides his time between studios in New Jersey and the Catskills. “Rick” focused on painting and art history as an undergrad and grad student at City College of New York. It was in High School in NYC that the art chairman and painter Sol Zaretsky inspired Mills’ early direction as an artist. Decades later they often exchange studio visits.
He has received grants from numerous arts foundations and State and Federal agencies including the NJ State Council on the Arts, Puffin Foundation, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, USEPA, NJEPA and NJ TRANSIT. Along with Riverkeeper he credits as inspiration and support a long list of eco feminist writers and artists from Lucy Lippard (“Lure of the Local”), Suzanne Lacy (Mapping the Terrain”), Aviva Rahmani (“Trigger Point Theory”), Amy Lipton (Ecovention”), Mierle Ukeles, Lynne Hull, Betsy Damon and countless other courageous pioneers. Mills has been artist in residence at the Teaneck Creek Conservancy and a visiting Fellow at the Jentel Foundation, Ucross Foundation and the Virginia Center for Creative Arts. He has exhibited in New York and internationally. Today Mills’ primary focus is on painting.
Recent Exhibition: Recent Paintings: Windows and Landscapes May 21 – June 15, 2019