In May 2012, the National Endowment for the Humanities awarded the Indianapolis Museum of Art $190,000 for its project “Documenting Modern Living: Digitizing the Miller House and Garden Collection.” The Miller House and Garden Collection includes correspondence, drawings and blueprints, textile samples, and photographs that document design, construction, and maintenance of the Miller House and Garden in Columbus, Indiana. 

The Miller House and Garden, one of the country’s most highly regarded examples of mid-century Modernist architecture, was designed by Eero Saarinen, with interiors by Alexander Girard and landscape design by Daniel Urban Kiley. Commissioned by industrialist and philanthropist J. Irwin Miller and his wife Xenia Simons Miller in 1953, the Miller House and Garden was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2000. In 2009, members of the Miller family donated the house and garden, along with many of its original furnishings, and the archives collection to the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

Throughout the digitization process, we will select documents to feature here. If there are subjects you are interested in, let us know and we’ll post what we find. Upon completion of the NEH-funded project in Spring 2014, all digital images of the Collection will be available.

Learn more about the IMA Archives online or email archives@imamuseum.org 

Note regarding fair use:
This collection is accessible under an assertion of fair use for purposes of research, education, and scholarship.  Some items in this collection may be protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S.C.). Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of copyright owners. Responsibility of their use rests entirely on the individual.  The Indianapolis Museum of Art does not own copyright to these materials, however, the IMA has made every effort to provide accurate information about the copyright holder whenever possible.

The IMA is eager to hear from any copyright owners so the IMA can provide the appropriate information to interested researchers. If you have information please contact the Indianapolis Museum of Art Archives, 4000 Michigan Rd., Indianapolis, IN 46208 or archives@imamuseum.org.