Artist Profile | Michael Kelly Williams

Michael Kelly Williams 

P.S. 386 School for Environmental Citizenship 
Bronx, NY 

michaelkellywilliams.com

Michael Kelly Williams was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, and grew up in Detroit, Michigan. He graduated with a B.F.A. in Printmaking from the University of Michigan in 1975 and went on to study and teach in New York City at Robert Blackburn’s Printmaking Workshop from 1979 to 1983. Williams was Artist-in-Residence at The Studio Museum in Harlem from 1986 to 1987. He attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 1988. He was the art director for "Daughters of the Dust," a 1991 PBS-American Playhouse Production directed by Julie Dash. He graduated in 1996 with an M.F.A. in Sculpture from Brooklyn College. Williams has also been an educator with the New York City Department of Education system for many years. In the Bronx, he taught at P.S. 2 Morrisania for several years until its closing and currently teaches at P.S. 386 School for Environmental Citizenship. His work can be found in several museums and institutions, such as The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York; The Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.; The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI; and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He has been commissioned for various permanent installations, including two mosaic murals located at the Intervale Subway Station (2/5) in the Bronx as well as several glass murals in P.S. 82 Hammond School in Queens, New York.

How do you see the relationship between your art and your teaching?

I am a second-generation artist and educator. My father ran an art school and gallery in inner city Detroit. My mother worked as a school community agent. Consequently, having been brought up in this environment, I have found the most satisfaction when teaching at community-based arts organizations and have sought them out. I try to achieve a balance in working on art and sharing through teaching. Sharing my enthusiasm with my students and motivating them fuels my own creativity. My approach of using recycled materials in my art is carried over into the classroom where I teach my students to make use of materials that would otherwise be discarded. Offering my students an array of unusual materials to choose from gives them more creative options and allows them to see the world differently.