Florence Valore Miller

Marker is located outside the entrance to the Atlantic City Art Center on Garden Pier, New Jersey Avenue and the Boardwalk

Marker text:
By order of the Mayor of Atlantic City and the Atlantic City Council, the Atlantic City Art Center is hereby dedicated to Florence Valore Miller for a lifetime of tireless commitment and selfless dedication to the promotion of artistic and cultural programs designed to nurture the aesthetic spirit of all the people of Atlantic City.

1984

Additional information:
Florence Valore Miler, an Atlantic City native, was one of the resort's largest champions of arts and culture. Amongst her numerous achievements were founding the Atlantic City Fine Arts Commission in 1969, and helping to build Atlantic City's original Art Center on Garden Pier. When this center was destroyed by fire in 1981, the new center was dedicated in her honor. Miller spent but a few years of her life outside of Atlantic City, when she moved to Hollywood with her husband and acted as a stand-in for movie stars. When the couple returned to Atlantic City, they founded the Miller School of Art together. Miller was such an advocate of the Arts in Atlantic City that she considered herself the city's unofficial Minister of Culture. She was the Fine Arts Commission's director from its founding until her 1981 retirement from the position, though she continued as its Chairwoman Emeritus. She was also the Art Center's Executive Director until 1999, and was a member of the Historic Gardner's Basin board. Miller was also known for fighting against the moving or tearing down of many of the city's monuments, and for speaking out against a proposed plan to extend gambling onto Garden Pier. Florence Valore Miller died in 2002, but her presence can still be felt in cultural locations across the city.

For more information, see articles from:
Atlantic City Press, March 22, 2002 and March 23, 2002