James L. Miller Retires after 24 Years as Atkins Museum Trustee

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
James L. Miller Retires after 24 Years as Atkins Museum Trustee
Grant Burcham, President and CEO of Missouri Bank, Named as Replacement
Kansas City, MO., July 30, 2008–James L. Miller, who helped champion the esteemed Mary Atkins
Lecture Series at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, has retired as Atkins Museum Trustee,
effective June 30. As Atkins Trustee since 1984, Miller was one of two persons charged with
administering the estate left by Mary Atkins for the benefit of the Museum.
Grant Burcham,
President and CEO of
Missouri Bank, has
been named as
Miller’s successor. He
joins Mary Lou Brous,
the current Atkins
Trustee who
succeeded David
Stickelber last year.
Miller began his
involvement with the
Museum as have
many – in childhood.
“I used to go up there
on Saturdays and look at the collections. I liked them all,” Miller remembers. He also took advantage
of Museum education programs.
After being graduated from Rockhurst College, he received his MBA from the University of Texas-
Austin and went to work for Commerce Bank, first downtown and later at the Plaza location where
he specialized in the trust and bond departments. His grandfather, Jo Zach Miller II, was the
founder of the Tenth District Federal Reserve Bank, which opened its doors in Kansas City in 1914.
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Miller’s father, Jo Zach Miller III (who served with Harry Truman in Battery D), worked for
Commerce Bank. The family members were early supporters of the Nelson-Atkins and participants
in Friends of Art, a group with the early mission of providing funds to purchase modern art for the
Museum.
Miller met his wife, Patricia, as a childhood neighbor in the area just east of the Museum. As a
couple they were active in the Museum’s life. Miller served as chairman of Friends of Art, and Mrs.
Miller remembers that during his tenure, membership quadrupled.
Among Miller’s efforts to increase public attendance was a 1960s “happening,” an event that
included audience participation and improvisation. Bleachers were set up in Kirkwood Hall and Mrs.
Miller remembers that part of the improvisation, much to the consternation of the staff, left paint on
the floor, which her husband helped clean up on his hands and knees.
As Atkins Trustee since 1984, Miller fulfilled one of two positions created in 1911 to uphold the
interests of the estate of Mary McAfee Atkins, a Kentucky schoolteacher who married a Kansas City
businessman. After developing a deep appreciation for the arts in her later years,
Atkins bequeathed her estate for the establishment of an art museum. The Nelson-Atkins resulted
from the combined generosity of Mary Atkins and William Rockhill Nelson. The Trustees have used
the remaining revenues from the estate to augment Museum programming, including the Mary
Atkins Lecture Series that brings noted speakers to Kansas City each fall.
When one of the trustees retires from the board or dies, the remaining trustee chooses the
replacement. Herbert V. Jones, Jr. chose Miller upon the retirement of David Childs. When Childs
left his position, Miller chose Nicholas Pickard. After Pickard died, Miller chose David Stickelber.
When he retired, Miller picked Mary Lou Brous. Now that Miller has retired, Brous has asked Grant
Burcham, president and CEO of Missouri Bank, to join her as Atkins Trustee.
Burcham was graduated from Southern Methodist University in 1984, the year he joined Missouri
Bank as customer service representative, teller and bookkeeper. He became president and CEO of
Missouri Bank in 1994.
Burcham’s civic involvement includes being a present board member of the Greater Kansas City
Community Foundation, St. Luke’s Hospital, St. Luke’s Hospital Foundation and co-chair of the
finance committee for the Kansas City Art Institute. Burcham collects contemporary art with an
emphasis on local artists.
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City is recognized nationally and internationally as one
of America’s finest encyclopedic art museums. The Nelson-Atkins serves the community by
providing access and insight into its renowned collection of more than 33,500 art objects and is best
known for its Asian art, European and American paintings and modern sculpture. Housing a major
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art research library and the Ford Learning Center, the Museum is a key educational resource for the
region and a national model for arts education. The Nelson-Atkins’ expansion is also leading a field
of new investments in local cultural infrastructure that is becoming known as Kansas City’s “$6
Billion Renaissance.”
The 165,000-square-foot Bloch Building by Steven Holl Architects was a major milestone in the
ongoing institution-wide transformation of the Nelson-Atkins. The project included the renovation
of the original 1933 Nelson-Atkins Building and the expansion of the Museum’s renowned Kansas
City Sculpture Park, and continues with renovations to the American, American Indian and Ancient
galleries as part of the reinstallation of the encyclopedic collection. The expansion increased
Museum space by 71 percent, providing new galleries, educational facilities and Museum-support
spaces. The Museum raised more than $200 million for the renovation and expansion, and $170
million to grow the endowment fund. The expanded resources ensure that the institution continues
to attract and engage the next generation of audiences and is equipped to present and interpret the
art of the past, present and future.
The Nelson-Atkins is located at 45 th and Oak Streets, Kansas City, MO. Hours are Tuesday–
Wednesday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.; Thursday/Friday, 10 a.m.–9 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Sunday, 12
p.m.–5 p.m.
Admission to the Museum is free to everyone. Additionally, newly produced audio guides are free
for visitors, presenting art & architecture tours, overall collection highlights, and select featured
exhibitions tours. For Museum information, phone 816.751.1ART or visit nelson-atkins.org.
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For media interested in receiving further information, please contact:
Randy Attwood, Media Relations Officer
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
816.751.1321
rattwood@nelson-atkins.org
Image: Photo by Don Ipock, courtesy The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
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