Creative artist brings passion, conviction and a unique voice to everything she undertakes
Understanding that all great artists never get the recognition or reward their craft deserves was the inspiration for Lisa A. Miles to write This Fantastic Struggle: The Life & Art of Esther Phillips. This biography but unique cultural essay creatively weaves together a fascinating, multi-faceted story from graphic long-hand letters, interviews with aging bohemians and from art work– giving readers an absorbing glimpse at just what it means to be an artist.
Raised in Pittsburgh by a family that could not appreciate her artistic identity, Esther Phillips headed to Greenwich Village in the 1930s and never looked back. Though she achieved early critical success, she would find herself institutionalized for over six years as a result of starvation and stress; fortunately, correspondence with close friends kept her art alive. When she returned to the Village, her struggles continued and she gradually fades into obscurity once again– but not before stating she lived the best possible life. This Fantastic Struggle is a remarkable story written to educate and captivate general audience.
Lisa A. Miles’ Resurrecting Allegheny City: The Land, Structures & People of Pittsburgh’s North Side was sponsored by the PA Historic & Museum Commission and tells the tale of Allegheny City, forcibly annexed by the City of Pittsburgh one hundred years ago. Allegheny’s identity remains indelible to land owners today, and Lisa paints a portrait of a place from earliest time through modern transformation– connecting the history of this lost city to the work of every current resident, employer and visitor. Resurrecting Allegheny City was written to educate and entertain general audience of ways to stimulate their communities via history.
Lisa Miles has been interviewed on NPR and East Coast radio, as well as television across Pennsylvania. Besides being a highly praised author, she is also sought-after as a teacher and keynote speaker on a variety of cross-disciplinary creative and entrepreneurial topics.
Especially unique is that Lisa Miles is also a musician and conceptual artist who writes original music with classical and punk influences. She composes and performs on acoustic/electric violin and mandolin, collaborating with film, theater and movement artists. Her music, as well as performance piece Presence (on ‘finding authentic self’) are heard and viewed on her site. Lisa has gotten funding from Meet the Composer and the Joe Strummer Foundation for New Music and looks forward to her national upcoming release on the PARMA recording label.
Please visit Lisa’s website at www.lisamilesviolin.com to learn more about her body of interconnected work. She is an extremely talented woman who would make for an engaging interview!
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TIP SHEET:
On This Fantastic Struggle:
Robert Henkes, author of American Women Painters of the 30’s and 40’s: “A remarkable book…both educational and provocative…(it) will arouse attention.”
On Resurrecting Allegheny:
Jerry Ellis, PA State Archives: “What is true of personal papers is equally true of those of a community…Miles has opened the trunk…like papers in the attic, (it) resurrects this partly forgotten city, progressive in its era, and deserved of remembrance.”
On Lisa’s Original Music:
Bill O’Driscoll, Pittsburgh City Paper: “Original compositions for solo electric violin and mandolin [that are] ‘intense, edgy and ethereal’… drawing on both indie-rock and classical influences…, [they’ll] send your night off on a different tack.”
Anne LeBaron: “Compositions inventive and richly textured… Lisa possesses the motivation and energy to continually realize her visions.”
