Frank Miglorie, a stoneware potter and transplanted Vermonter, recently became the newest associate/consignee artist at the Artists Guild Gallery in Downtown Vero Beach.
Before making his way here, Miglorie spent much of his life in Rutland, Vermont. Raised and educated there, ultimately obtaining a doctorate in educational leadership, he also worked for 42 years at the College of St. Joseph in Rutland.
“When I started there, I was teaching philosophy and art and then after nine years, I became academic dean for four years, and then for 29 years, I was college president,” says Miglorie.
“It was a Catholic college in the middle of the ’70s. You’re always on the edge of it because you have to bring in tuition and you have to bring in philanthropic support. We were not supported by the state or in our affiliation.”
Shortly after his marriage to wife Patty, they purchased a commercial building with an apartment upstairs and converted the downstairs into a gift shop and clothing boutique.
“Then we had an experience. This is where sometimes practice drives your future choices,” he says, explaining that they ran into supply chain issues with the clay pots they sold in the shop.
“The long and short of it is, whenever you start shipping something like pottery, there’s a lot of breakage and difficulty in getting reimbursement from the truckers.”
Miglorie says he had dabbled in charcoal and oil in school but had always been interested in three-dimensional art and realized that if he learned the craft, he could sell his own pieces.
“So, I studied pottery for that summer, in both hand-building and wheel-throwing and then after that, I just immersed myself totally in it. I finally got to the point where I felt comfortable with the level of mastery I had, and we started to sell my pots.”
During summers they worked the show circuit in Vermont and New England, and he began to develop relationships with people interested in his pottery and take on commissions.
“And what happens when people love your work, it affirms you, and you get more excited about it. And so, my energy grew in terms of my commitment to the work,” Miglorie recalls.
“I had a studio behind the shop. And so basically, I had kind of this double life where I had an academic career and then I was doing the pottery. It was always a way to express myself creatively.”
Upon his retirement, they moved to North Carolina, a state well known for its arts communities.
“We lived in Edenton, North Carolina, which is in the Northeast sector in the area called the Inner Banks. We lived on the Albemarle Sound for 11 years.”
Miglorie says that while they loved living there, the winters were chillier than they had expected, even for Vermonters.
“Patty kept saying to me, ‘Frank, I don’t think we moved far enough south.’ We would laugh about it because I had a really active pottery business.”
His late mother had lived in the Fort Lauderdale area for more than 30 years, but Miglorie says he had no interest in moving to Florida.
“Of course, we were used to living in rural areas. Down there, the traffic is nonstop, the houses are on top of one another,” he says.
Their minds were changed, however, after a visit to a friend who is a longtime Vero resident, and they soon looked for a place to buy. Instead, they decided to build a home that could accommodate their needs, including a studio, and they are now starting their second year here.
His next search was to find somewhere to show his works, which was accomplished this past spring when he discovered the Artists Guild Gallery during a First Friday Gallery Stroll.
“I love that space. It’s not a large gallery, but there’s a wonderful sense of space in it. And what I loved about it is everything in there is juried, so it’s really nice quality. The people there are very welcoming,” he says.
“When you’re welcomed in a space, and the people like the work you do, you know it’s the right place. I feel really positive about it. And it’s important, I think, to be in a place where people appreciate beautiful art. This is a real arts town.”
Miglorie says that he spends a good deal of time in his studio, working on pieces first thing in the morning and trimming them later in the afternoon. Next comes the design work and firing the pieces in his kiln.
His stoneware includes functional pieces that are artistically embellished and others that are more sculptural with some functional aspects.
Miglorie says even if someone is buying a simple mug, “I want them to have a piece that feels very comfortable as far as fulfilling the function they’re interested in, and I want the piece to be elevated so every time they use it there’s a special feeling associated with it. They actually recognize it as a piece of art, not simply a mug from Walmart.”
His approach, he explains, is elevating the technical aspects of the piece through brushwork and sculptural design techniques.
Miglorie makes his own glazes and says his color palettes and designs have changed along with his moves. His more rustic Vermont looks began to evolve into lighter colors, often now featuring dragonflies and turtles.
“It’s that interaction between artist and environment. You never know to what extent it influences you, but at least you recognize there’s an influence there. And I think it’s important to be open to that.”
Miglorie says he very much enjoys this second career.
He recalls his mother commenting, “Frank, I thought you were retired. I know you’re in the studio all the time.”
“I said, ‘Mom, that’s not work. That’s art. That’s what I love to do,’” he says.
“It’s the joy you get out of it, for sure.”
Photos by Joshua Kodis
