COSTA MESA (Nov. 6, 2020) – Heroes Hall reopens this week and on display is a new exhibit, Private Charles J. Miller: WWII Paintings from the South Pacific.

 

Featured is the visual diary of Miller, who chronicled his military service in the South Pacific theater during WWII. He was a self-taught artist who had been drawing throughout his lifetime, teaching himself perspective, anatomy and drawing and painting techniques.

 

During the three-and-a-half years he fought in World War II, Miller sketched nearly 700 scenes of a soldier’s life, and 83 are featured in this exhibit. He drew the familiar horrors – firefights, destruction, wounded carried back from battle – but also less-documented moments: boredom, distraction, even silliness.

 

He drew on whatever he had available, from large sheets of paper to the insides of cigarette cartons and painted with children’s watercolor sets. With these humble materials Miller created powerful works of art, full of wonderful color and skilled draftsmanship, with dramatic action and keen observation.

 

Miller, from Nashua, NH, sketched all or most of the scenes onsite, completing unfinished works and adding or expanding his written comments when back in the barracks. These comments are an intricate part of this exhibition.

 

Kept in a brown paper bag for most of his life, Miller gave the paintings to his sister for safekeeping. Miller’s niece and her husband, Nancy and Robert Dennis, vigilantly preserved his artwork and, along with the Wright Museum of WWII in New Hampshire, made this show possible. The exhibit is on loan from the Wright Museum of WWII.

 

For more information, visit ocfair.com/millerexhibit.

 

Heroes Hall veterans museum hours are Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Free admission and parking; masks and reservations are required and COVID-19 safety protocols are in place. To reserve a time to visit Heroes Hall and nearby Centennial Farm, go to ocfair.com/reservations.