Meet the Team
Scott K. McClure Miller
Lindsay P. McClure Miller
As a visual artist and explorer my work begins with a question: how can we all live together in peace? This quastion has led me on documentary explorations to regions of the world defined by their cultural diversity: southern Spain, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the state of Kerala in India, and the New York City borough of Queens.
As of 2020, I have visited 55 countries, and estimate I have lived abroad for roughly 1/4th of my life. Migratory patterns were set by my family when I was a child living part of the year in Vermont and the other part in Kenya. Migratory patterns continue to motivate me to travel and work abroad, and bring me home, to Vermont.
My interest in humanity grows as I experience new cultures and learn the evolving social patterns of youth and adults, at home and abroad. I am simultaneously inspired and saddened by our human capacity to create and destroy, socially and ecologically, the groups we live among, and the places we share.
Since 2010 I have been working with youth and young adults on participatory photo, film and art projects. This professional chapter began while I was in grad school at The New School in NYC, then continued with Vermont Folklife Center, and grew exponentially as I co-founded World Story Exchange in 2014. I work with a wide variety of organizations, including K-12 public schools, homeless shelters, teen & parent-child centers, senior centers, public libraries, and organizations for adults with differing abilities. In all, I have helped students produce over 2000 short documentary stories in 11 countries (see map).
There are two basic philosophical foundations for my work. First, I am interested in using youth-made media to create bridges of communication, and thus foster new understandings and appreciations between participants. These bridges can connect people from different generations, different cultures, different socio-economic groups, and others.
Secondly, I am interested in fostering active citizens through the creation of documentary artwork. My students are typically assigned some type of community questioning, either making interviews with others or asking students to critically assess the positive, and negative, aspects of their community. Through these acts of on-the-street questioning and engagement the student is no longer a passive body, no longer a bystander, but now an active participant in the social order, a citizen, perhaps an activist in the making.
We each have a story to share about resilience, joy, pain, love...
As an avid explorer and connector, I am grateful to meet human beings from all walks of life. While obtaining my undergraduate degree at a university that has the motto "Pro Humanitate", I had the opportunity to join a 3-week service trip to rural Vietnam. We built a school and spent most of our time with people living in a sustainable village. It was through that experience and program, that I began to relate to the world as a global citizen.
My most rewarding experiences always happen when I work directly with other people. These experiences include leading and teaching with World Story Exchange, teaching through the Phillips Brooks House and Artistree, facilitating workshops through World of Difference, starting a Best Buddies chapter at Duxbury High School, working with patients and HCPs across New England to provide optimal cardiac care, coaching field hockey and encouraging people to define their dreams and career goals.
Every person has a voice, but not every voice is heard. Through our World Story Exchange workshops, students are able to creatively and effectively share their stories. During a painful time in my life, I was encouraged to paint and write my internal story. This self-exploration through creative media allowed me to channel the pain and fear into something outside of myself, which had a dramatic positive effect on my life.
I am committed to creating spaces for people to share their stories and be creative through media such as art, movement, photography, film and oral storytelling.
Just for today: lead with love, create peace, choose tolerance, and express forgiveness.
2010 - present
2010 - present