{{Short description|American real estate executive and sculptor (1924–2016)}} {{distinguish|Sara Miller McCune}} '''Sara Shapiro Miller''' (July 8, 1924 – October 29, 2016) was an American real estate executive and sculptor.
== Early life == Born '''Sara Shirlee Shapiro''' on the west side of [[Chicago]], Miller was the daughter of Philip Shapiro, a baker, and Rose Morris Shapiro, a boarding house proprietor. The tenth of twelve children, she grew up in the [[Lincoln Park, Chicago|Lincoln Park]] neighborhood. After graduation from [[Jones Commercial High School]] she entered the world of [[real estate]], taking a job as a professional realtor with [[Arthur Rubloff]]. Beginning in the field of office leasing, she later moved to commercial and industrial real estate, eventually becoming a vice president at Rubloff's firm.
== Personal life == Married in 1946 to Ira J. Miller, she was the mother of three children. Miller and her husband were among the founders of Little City, and did philanthropic work on behalf of the developmentally disabled, raising money to build a home for them in [[Palatine, Illinois|Palatine]], [[Illinois]]. The couple were members of [[Anshe Emet Synagogue]]. Miller began studying ceramics and sculpture in her retirement years, studying at [[Truman College]] and at the [[School of the Art Institute of Chicago]] and working with Anna Varalla and Morino Moretti, the latter in [[Orvieto]]. She was a member of Chicago's Palette and Chisel Artist's studio. In later years she lived at the [[Hancock Tower]], where she died.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/chicagotribune/obituary.aspx?n=sara-miller&pid=182352182|title=Sara Miller's Obituary on Chicago Tribune|website=Chicago Tribune|accessdate=26 May 2018}}</ref>
== Sculpting career == Miller produced a number of public sculptures for Chicago institutions during her career. Among these were busts of [[Saul Bellow]], installed in the [[Harold Washington Library]] in 1993,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1993/11/09/bellows-defection-no-match-for-affection-from-hometown/|title=Bellow's Defection No Match For Affection From Hometown|website=[[Chicago Tribune]] |publisher=|access-date=26 May 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://old.library.eiu.edu/artarch/displayDetailArt.asp?Photo=338A4366_0047.jpg&ArtID=4366 |title=Art and Architecture in Illinois Libraries – Chicago Public Library – Harold Washington Library Center: ''Saul Bellow'' by Sara Miller |access-date=2018-05-26 |archive-date=2018-05-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180527023343/http://old.library.eiu.edu/artarch/displayDetailArt.asp?Photo=338A4366_0047.jpg&ArtID=4366 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and [[Gwendolyn Brooks]], commissioned for the same location the following year.<ref>[http://old.library.eiu.edu/artarch/displayDetailArt.asp?Photo=338A4365_0046.jpg&ArtID=4365 Art and Architecture in Illinois Libraries – Chicago Public Library – Harold Washington Library Center: ''Gwendolyn Brooks'' by Sara Miller]</ref> Brooks honored the artist with a poem upon completion of her portrait.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1994/06/07/poet-takes-her-place-in-library/|title=Poet Takes Her Place In Library|website=[[Chicago Tribune]] |publisher=|access-date=26 May 2018}}</ref> The library also owns a 1994 bust of [[Ernest Hemingway]] by the artist.<ref>[http://old.library.eiu.edu/artarch/displayDetailArt.asp?Photo=338A4371_0066.jpg&ArtID=4371 Art and Architecture in Illinois Libraries – Chicago Public Library – Harold Washington Library Center: ''Ernest Hemingway'' by Sara Miller]</ref> Copies of the busts of both Bellow and Brooks are owned by the [[National Portrait Gallery (United States)|National Portrait Gallery]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.94.82|title=Saul Bellow|publisher=|accessdate=26 May 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.94.303|title=Gwendolyn E. Brooks|publisher=|accessdate=26 May 2018}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Sara}} [[Category:1924 births]] [[Category:2016 deaths]] [[Category:American businesspeople in the real estate industry]] [[Category:Businesspeople from Chicago]] [[Category:Artists from Chicago]] [[Category:Sculptors from Illinois]] [[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]] [[Category:20th-century American businesswomen]] [[Category:20th-century American sculptors]] [[Category:20th-century American women sculptors]] [[Category:21st-century American sculptors]] [[Category:21st-century American women sculptors]] [[Category:School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni]] [[Category:Truman College alumni]]