"You know, thanks to this call, I'm remembering a lot about my time at MCC. It's probably the most personal I've been during an interview," says Douglas Miles Sr., independent artist, owner of Apache Skateboards, and advocate for artistic expression for communities and people of color.
He attended MCC part-time in the 1980s while working at the then-booming Motorola Semiconductor plant on Broadway and Dobson roads. At the time, it was one of the largest employers in the state. Miles worked in quality assurance, looking for defects in production.
"I worked the second shift from 4 p.m. to midnight, he says. I took my daughter to school in the mornings, so I knew I would have enough time to take classes before I started work." He found MCC both affordable and convenient since he lived nearby. He began by taking classes in guitar and piano, I was always into music and art, and I wanted to study my passions.
"Being at MCC opened my eyes to the vastness of it all philosophy, sociology, art. I was in the library all the time."
He became a full-time student years later, pursuing that passion in art via graphic design in addition to social work. The combination of disciplines came naturally to Miles. "As part of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, I had a strong sense of community already instilled in me," he says, remembering MCCs commitment to Native students through the then-named American Indian Center and mentorship from founding member, Garrison Tahmahkera. "Native American people in general are very closely connected to their families and their community you really learn how important those things are. Social work fits into that community-centered thinking, and I was able to apply that to my art and vice versa."
For Miles, he saw similar traits in other communities while growing up in a diverse Phoenix neighborhood. Styles, music and culture were all influences on his studies. "I would go to the MCC library and research great artists and great musicians. I really enjoyed learning about the Harlem Renaissance Hughes, Ellington, Holliday high art coming from challenged communities," he says.
An excitement brewed in Miles, one that drove him to learn more. Though as a young artist, he was initially uninterested in some of the foundational concepts of visual art. I flunked my high school art class, he admits. "I vividly remember not wanting to draw boxes and paper bags; I wanted to draw people, faces, and more intimate details. But guess what I had to do in my beginning art classes at MCC? Draw a box!"
This experience taught him a very important lesson while at MCC: a good foundation matters. "It took me a little while, but I finally began to appreciate what I thought were the simple things: scale, tone, color value, perspectives. What I learned at MCC are concepts I'm still using now."
Sometime after his college years, Miles's son, Doug Jr., was a young boy wanting a skateboard. With Doug Sr. now equipped with a graphic design background, he decided to design a board himself. "I painted a blank board myself," Miles Sr. says. "It had an Apache warrior figure drawn on it, and once other kids in the neighborhood saw my son's skateboard, they all wanted one. It took me a while to get them mass-produced, but by the turn of the century, Apache Skateboards was born." The company's first major show occurred in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 2004. He now runs the company with Doug Jr.
At any given time, Miles Sr. can be working on three to four different projects. He's currently designing a blanket for the Urban Indian Center of Salt Lake in Utah. He's a public muralist whos had his fine art appear in galleries across the Southwest. His skateboard designs are being sold at popular shops such as Zumiez. He's designed clothing for Volcom, Etnis, the Phoenix Suns, in addition to other design work for reputable companies such as Verizon, Smartwater, and Red Bull.
"It's really neat to slow down and realize how influential those few art courses were on the mastery of my style and technique," he says. Near the end of this interview, Miles reflects on the fundamental principles of leadership and personal growth: "You really can't lead anyone until you lead yourself, and that's where education comes in. I'm proud of my time investing in it at MCC."
"I think I"ve always been embarrassed talking about my education, because I never graduated high school," Miles says.
"At MCC, I learned how to become a better student. I was excited about learning and spent hours in the library. They were probably some of the best times I had."
