For over 30 years Thomas Lyon Mills has received unique access to paint in the Italian catacombs and numerous European pagan sites. From there, beginning with his onsite work and the influence of his dreams, he returns to his studio to work on pieces often for years. He is represented by the Ricco/Maresca Gallery in New York.
His exhibition record includes the Allan Stone Gallery, the Luise Ross Gallery and the Drawing Center in New York City; the Front Room Gallery in Brooklyn, the Rafius Fane Gallery in Boston, the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln, MA, the Boston Athenaeum, the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cornell University in Ithaca NY, Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, Little Rock, AR; and numerous venues in Europe including the American Academy in Rome and the residence of the United States Ambassador in Italy.
He is Professor Emeritus of Drawing at the Rhode Island School of Design, and while at RISD he won the competition to be the Academic Head of RISD’s European Honors Program based in Rome, Italy. He has traveled extensively from Norway to France and Germany, and has received grants to live in Greece, Turkey, and Mexico. He lectured and critiqued at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, as well as participating in Harvard’s Design Discovery Program for over a dozen years. Other guest artist invitations include the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville; the Cranbrook Academy of Art, MI; Parsons School of Design, NY; Auburn University, AL; the Hartford Art School, West Hartford CT, and both Temple University’s and Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute’s programs in Rome. In 1996 he received RISD’s John R. Frazier Award for excellence in teaching.
Thomas Lyon Mills lives in Providence RI with his wife the artist, Susan Werner.