Welcome to Curating Memory with Chloé Duplessis. In this episode, Chloé sits down with artist, creative advocate, and serial founder Josh Miller to discuss the profound weight of shared history and the radical act of public memorialization.
From the stone walls of the House of Slaves on Goree Island to the banks of the Ohio River, Chloé and Josh explore how public art can unearth buried truths, challenge institutional gatekeepers, and give names back to the unknown.
In this episode, we cover:
The Genesis of (Un)known Project: How a somber trip to Senegal and a map in a Mississippi museum sparked a massive public art trail honoring enslaved people.
Geographies of Freedom: Reorienting our relationship to landscapes like the Ohio River — the literal line between bondage and a free state.
The Myth of “Too Ambitious”: Navigating early institutional pushback and staying fiercely committed to a bold creative vision.
Unearthing Family History: A candid conversation on Josh discovering their own family’s ties to enslavement, and the powerful question: “When did your family become white?”
Adorned in Imagination: Josh’s personal creative practice, dressing androgynously, and fashion as a ritual of self-determination and living art.
Notable Quotes:
“Multiple funders told us we were thinking too big... and that this felt really ambitious. [Our response was] you’re not the right funder. This was the smallest version of our dream.” — Josh Miller
“If you’re gonna own being a creative, get ready to fail miserably. And from that... get this notion that there’s never failure—failing as a construct, I believe. Because the word fail suggests that you did something, it didn’t work, so let’s just be still. In my mind, there’s never a fail. There’s always a lesson.” — Chloé Duplessis
Connect with our Guest:
Josh Miller: Visit their website at joshmiller.ventures and follow them on Instagram @joshmillerventures. Learn more about their work with Hannah Drake and (Un)Known Project at unknownprojecttrail.com.
Connect with Chloé Duplessis, Duplessis Art & Curating Memory:
Instagram: @duplessis.art
Curating Memory music credit: By and By, performed by Acoustic Standard
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