Michael Smith-Welch Biography
Michael Smith-Welch is an artist-educator focusing on learning spaces and materials that support creative thinking and iterative making. He collaborates with people around the world, creating expressive devices – anything from a discrete art project to a continuous environment – whatever best amplifies perceptions of the world. He is most interested in materials that exhibit behaviors for inspiring experimentation and enjoys working and learning with electronics, computation, mechanics, light, sound, video, a wide variety of building materials, and nature.
Michael’s purpose is to share ideas, technologies, and materials with a diverse range of people in diverse places. He has taught workshops throughout the United States, Asia, and Europe, working at the cross-section of art, science, and technology in a variety of formal and informal learning environments. In an earlier life Michael was a middle school science teacher in New York City. He has a degree in sculpture from the Purchase School for the Arts and a degree in Media Arts and Sciences from MIT’s Media Lab.
Recent projects include large scale sculptures for the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and the Arts and Industries building. While at the Smithsonian he also developed a series of sensor design workshops at the National Museum of Natural History and computer programming workshops at the Smithsonian’s ARTLAB+. He is a founding member of RhizomeDC, a unique art, learning, and DIY culture space in Washington, DC. More recently Michael is building performative installations in various locations with artist and musician Ami Yamasaki.
