nicolaysen art museum
My niece, Michelle Miller has had a very busy year. Michelle has been an art educator for the Nicolaysen Art Museum. It was a different kind of teaching than Michelle expected to be doing, but it has been very rewarding, and she has found it to be a surprise blessing. Michell loves teaching, and loves introducing her students to a whole new world…one that is filled with beauty and expression. Many of these kids have never really been exposed to the beauty of art, and Michelle loves to be the one to show it to them.
Michelle is so well liked by everyone, and that has put her in the position of being promoted quickly. Michelle is now the Curator of Education, which means that while she held on to a couple of classed for herself, she is mainly over the other teachers and the education program in general. It is a lot of responsibility, but Michelle is definitely up for the 
task. She is a very social person, who works easily with others, but that isn’t all she has going for her. Michelle is very smart, and she can handle anything she is assigned. Never has that been more important that now, because since October, Michelle has been the Interim Director of The Nicolaysen Art Museum. That was when the last Director took another position in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Of course, Michelle could have taken over as the new Director, but her heart is in teaching. Nevertheless, until the Director they just hired takes over, Michelle is still carrying the load of that position too. As Director, Michelle was able to go to the Mountain-Plains Museum Association Convention in Tulsa from October 4th to the 7th. It was cool for her to be able to go, and she learned a lot. Michelle has also been on the board of the Wyoming Art Education Association. So, she has 
additional responsibilities with them. While these positions are a big load, I know that Michelle is well able to handle it, and we are all so very proud of her.
On a non-working note, Michelle became and aunt again this past summer, when her niece Maya Stevens was born. Michelle and her husband, Matt Miller both love their nieces and nephew, and so getting a new one is very special. Maya is little sister to her sister, Elliott Stevens. Michelle also has bonus niece Brooklyn Killinger and bonus nephew, Jaxon Killinger. All in all, it has been a busy year, but as usual, Michelle has taken it all in stride and looks forward to what the new year will bring. Today is Michelle’s birthday. Hapy birthday Michelle!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
For many people, 2020 and 2021 have been hard and disappointing years, but for my niece, Michelle Miller, this past year has been a banner year. So many wonderful things have transpired in her life, that she can’t help but be jumping for joy, and excited for the future and all that it will bring with it. Michelle and her long-time love…literally since middle school, Matt Miller tied the knot this summer in a sweet ceremony on Casper Mountain on August 14, and they have been busy starting their new life as a married couple. They are so happy together and such great friends, on top of now being husband and wife. They are so perfect for each other. It is a sweet mixture of macho man meets the artist, and while the two things might seem very different, these two somehow blend together perfectly. While Michelle is an artist, she also likes to get outdoors with Matt…well, maybe not the hunting and fishing parts…more the camping part, but that works out well for both of them.
Michelle is an artist, like I said, obtaining her art degree for Black Hills State University. When she and Matt moved back to Casper, Wyoming from Spearfish, South Dakota, she began to apply to the Natrona County School District. Unfortunately for the school district, they didn’t have an opening, and Michelle took a job with The Nicolaysen Art Museum as an Art Educator. While she had envisioned herself as a public school art teacher, Michelle quickly addapted to her new career, and…well, has this ever been a wonderful career move for her. In October 2021, Michelle received a huge promotion from Art teacher to Curator of Education. It was a very big promotion. Her boss was very much on board with her moving up, and her family is all very pleased with her new position too. Michelle will be writing grants and getting all parts of the education program’s set up. It rather like the type of promotion when a teacher becomes school principal, except that most teachers have to be teaching for years before such a promotion comes their way…but then Michelle is very a unique and special teacher. She is very happy with her new career and responsibilities. She also has the added benefit of being able to continue to teach some of her classes, something that she would have hated to have to give up. Michelle is and always will be a teacher first.
Michelle and Matt are currently living in an apartment, but they are beginning to put out some feelers concerning a home of their own They want a house, but they are actually looking for a piece of land where they can have room to have a big shop and maybe even an art studio…I hope, because Michelle, while she is Curator of Education, and an art teacher, is really, first and foremost, an artist. I have seen her work, and it is amazing. I believe she could easily sell her work, and I know people would be quick to buy. With their big future plans, 
they are actively looking around for that perfect property, but they haven’t found one that suits their needs yet. I’m sure that it is out there. God has the perfect place for them, and He will show it to them with the timing is just right too. Yeah, still in the same place. I know that when He shows them the perfect place, they will see that it is perfect too. We are very excited for them to be able to start their next chapter of their lives. Today is Michelle’s birthday. Happy birthday Michelle!! Have a great day!! We Love you!!
My niece, Michelle Stevens and her husband…as of today, Matt Miller, have known each other since they were kids in the 8th grade. They have always been best friends, but at some point, it became more than just a friendship, and they knew this would be their forever love. Michelle and Matt wanted to get married last year in a destination wedding in Florida, but like many 2020 weddings, plans got changed because of Covid-19. So instead, they decided to have an intimate little wedding on Casper Mountain followed by a reception at the Nicolaysen Art Museum, where Michelle works. It may not be what they had dreamed of, but it will beautiful.
For al long time, Michelle and Matt didn’t want to take their relationship to the level of being a couple, because they didn’t want to lose the friendship, is things didn’t work out. Nevertheless, at some point, they knew that they couldn’t leave their relationship as just friends either. Once they made the decision to go to the next level, they knew it was the right decision. They weren’t just friends. They were and always will be soulmates. They knew that together they were a complete couple, and they knew that they would be happy forever.
Today, they made took their relationship to yet another level…that of husband and wife, and their families couldn’t be happier. Having been together for a long time, these two are already fixtures in each other’s family, and both sides consider these two their children. That is a phenomenon that occurs when two people have been together so long that they tend to act like each other. My own mother told me once that my husband and I 
acted a lot alike and that we even look alike. I don’t see that, but she did. Michelle and Matt’s parents might see that in them one day, because they are well on their way to being together long term, and I thing that in many ways, they do act alike already. Both of them have a great sense of humor. They like to do the same things, and they seem to be going in the same direction in life. Those are things that make for a good marriage. I believe that is exactly what Michelle and Matt will have. Congratulations on your marriage Michelle and Matt. May God richly bless your marriage in every way. We love you both.
Throughout their childhood, my nieces, Michelle Stevens and Lindsay Moore were the best of friends. They were always having adventures…usually funny ones. The girls at one time decided that they needed a secret language, so that they could communicate all their little girl secrets privately. Of course, in reality they were talking gibberish, but the language sounded close enough to legitimate, that it might have fooled the untrained ear. The girls loved to talk their secret language…especially in public. They actually got pretty good at it, and might have even understood each other, as can happen in these developed childhood languages.
Michelle’s imagination was quite good. She likes to tease people in pure “Michelle” fashion, by telling people she was on her way to their house, when she was actually at home. She even went so far as to say she was outside their house, and could see them through their window…when in reality, she never really intended to come over at all. She was quite funny, and I think maybe her imagination soon led to her chosen career…art.
After Michelle graduated from Black Hills State University, with a teaching degree and an art degree, she moved back to Casper, Wyoming, hoping to get a job in the local school district. With the country in a downturn, schools were closing, and jobs weren’t available. So, Michelle found another type of dream job. The Nicolaysen Art Museum snatched her right up for a teaching position there. Michelle loves working with the various groups, teaching art projects and classes with people of all ages. Veterans, home schoolers, art club, seniors. This is a different kind of teaching than she thought she would be doing, in that the students are of all ages. That is an unexpected pleasure for Michelle, who didn’t expect to be working with adults, when she went into teaching. She absolutely loves it.
For an artist, the art museum is a favorite place to be, and she love the Nicolaysen, and takes great pride in it, as well as working there. Recently, Michelle was chosen to do an Art Integration Conference for teachers Professional Development. It was a great honor. She was a presenter for one of the sessions, at which time gave a lecture about Art Basics for the Non-Artistic. Hmmm…I should have attended that one, since Michelle has more artistic ability in one strand of hair, that I have in my whole body. Her lecture was a quick breakdown of Introduction to Art, after which she gave the teachers various strategies on ways to integrate art into any class. The people at the museum are super impressed with her and have put their faith in her. Her boss, Zhanna wants her to help her develop a whole Art integration Conference for 2021. We are very proud of her.
Time changes things, and for Michelle, that means that with the improving economy, the Natrona County School District is once again looking at her for teaching positions. She will start substitute teaching in the 
school district in January, and she is hoping to land one of the three art teacher positions opening in the school in June. Of course, that would mean leaving the Nicolaysen…a move that saddens both Michelle and her work family at the Nicolaysen. She has not finalized her plans in that respect, but it is an opportunity that will be impossible to pass up. We all wish her well, in whatever decision she makes. Today is Michelle’s birthday. Happy birthday Michelle!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
