Remembering Cheap Joe Miller

Born on February 17, 1939, Joe’s life was always connected in some ways to the arts. While he initially set forth to become a taxidermist with dreams of becoming a museum conservator, he eventually settled in at UNC Chapel Hill’s School of Pharmacy. It was in practice at Boone Drug and while moonlighting as an artist that he began a small, corner 'shop' he jokingly named 'Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff.' The name stuck, and Joe later left his pharmacy career to grow Cheap Joe’s into a force in the art materials world.

Joe built a solid foundation at Cheap Joe’s - one rooted in personal, friendly, often humorous interactions. It was how he approached his customers (often personally delivering packages when traveling across the U.S.) and how he approached his business partners. It is with honor and great respect that we carry forward this tremendous legacy.

Joe’s passion and dedication to the art world earned him numerous accolades and awards - his highest honors being the recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award, American Watercolor Society Dolphin Medal, North Carolina Order of the Long Leaf Pine, and NWS Arts and Humanities Award for his contributions to his extremely broad community.

Through his one-man-show, "With a Warm Handshake," Joe emphasized his belief in the healing power of art as he regaled his audiences with the story of Vincent Van Gogh and his brother Theo - whom supported Vincent's artistic endeavour. It was during the evolution and honing of this theatrical show that Joe came up with the idea for his charity, Brushes for Vincent. Taking his lead from Theo, Joe used Brushes for Vincent as a commitment to healing through art by providing free materials to assist artists in crisis, victims of illness or infirmity, and victims of natural disasters.