Bio Michael K Taylor is a multimedia visual artist and performer based in Houston, Tx and born outside New Orleans, La. From video and object installations at Project Row Houses to wall relief sculptures at the MFAH and CAMH, Taylor’s artwork and exhibitions have been a dynamically experimentation since branching off from the photography based work the began his career as an artist. Taylor is looking for projects in assemblage, installation and sculptural based projects that focus on issues facing global communities.
Education & Residencies
2013 Ox-Bow School of Art, Artist in Residence, Saugatuck, MI
2013 Wodstock Byrdcliff Guild A.I.R., Visual Artist in Residence, Woodstock, NY
2013 Atlantic Center for the Arts, Dance & Choreography Associate Artist in Residence, New Smyrna Beach, FL
2012 Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Artist in Residence, Skowhegan, ME
2011 Atlantic Center for the Arts, Poetry Associate Artist in Residence, New Smyrna Beach, FL
2009 Nairobi Arts Trust Center / Contemporary Art of East Africa CCAEA through A.M. Houston, Nairobi, Kenya
2008 Creative Capital Professional Development Workshop, DiverseWorks Houston,TX
2003 BFA Fine Art Photography w/ Minor in English from the University of Houston
1997 High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Houston, TX
Awards, Grants & Published
2013 Established Artist Award from the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance:
2011 Book Club Book contributed essay and poems titled "When the Page Hits the Fan", published 2011. Callaloo Volume 34:1 Published images of artwork accompanying interview with Michael K Taylor.
2008 Individual Artist Grant Recipient Houston Arts Alliance: Received artist grant to work on artwork and video narratives with responsibilities of documentation and presentation in a public environment.
2008 Collecting African American Art, by John Hope Franklin and Alvia J. Wardlaw, published by Museum of Fine Arts Houston
2007 Artwork on Catalog Cover for Museum of Fine Arts Houston (5a) Citywide Exhibition
2005 Poetry Grand Slam Champion (Houston,TX First Place Ranking) Amnesty International Slam Champion (Houston) San Antonio vs Houston Regional Poetry Slam Champion San Antonio, TX
1997 ACT-SO Regional Video Winner, NAACP, Houston, TX
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2009 “Re:Vision Pro:Cess” curated by Lauren Kelly, Prairie View University Gallery, Prairie View, TX
2009 "Beats, Rhymes & Mike" Community Artists' Collective, Houston, TX
Selected Group Exhibitions & Art Space Performances
2013 "Inside Out" Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, Fl Coming Through the Gap of the Mountain on an Elephant curated by Robert Pruitt, University Museum at Texas Southern University, Houston, TX
2011 Texas Contemporary Art Fair Houston, TX "Inside Out" Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, Fl
2011 Future Plan and Program publishing project, performed pieces with Autumn Knight from "Texts for Nothing" by Harold Mendez, at the Houston Museum of African American Culture, Houston, TX 011 Future Plan and Program publishing project, performed pieces from Book Club Book at Project Row Houses, Houston, TX
2010 “DARe to go FURther” Lawndale Arts Center, , Houston, TX
2010 “Art of Culture” MOCAH Gallery, Houston, TX
2010 "Las Comadres Recycled” Discovery Green Park, Houston, TX via Talento Bilingue de Houston (with Honorarium)
2009“Probe” Nairobi Arts Trust - GoDown Arts Center, Nairobi, Kenya “Art Crawl” Elder Street Artists Lofts, Houston, TX
2008 "Houston Collects" (curated by MFAH curator Dr Alvia Wardlaw) Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Houston, TX
2008 "A Time For Change" curated by Catherine D. Anspon, Houston, TX
2008 “Art-Official Intelligence” – The Museum of Texas Southern University. Houston, TX
008 "Brothas Havin Their Say" South Dallas Cultural Arts Center, Dallas, TX
008 “Art-Official Intelligence” – The Museum of Texas Southern University. Houston, TX
008 "MFAH 5a 12th Annual Citywide" Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Houston, TX
2007 "Light" M Squared Gallery, Houston, TX
007 Film Featured in Independent Black Film Festival University of Houston - Songai News Organization, Houston, TX
007 Two Short Films collaborations with Audio Artists (AVSwap) Angelika Film Center and River Oaks Theatre, Houston, TX
007 Film Featured in Independent Black Film Festival University of Houston - Songai News Organization, Houston, TX
007 MFAH Five-A 11th Annual Citywide African American Art Exhibition G Gallery, Houston, TX
2006 Brandywine Workshop Exhibition Philadelphia, PA Artcetera's “Private Stash” Project Row Houses, Houston, TX "ArtCrawl" Downtown Houston
2003 “Layered Evidence: Uncovering Houston” Curated Caroline Goeser, Susana Monteverde, Sara Wilson Mckay. Lawndale Arts Center, Houston, TX
2002 “The Mentor” Houston Community College, Houston, TX
2002 “Emergence” FotoFest at the University of Houston, Houston, TX
2002 “The Annual” Art Square Studios, Houston, TX
2002 “Midtown Visions: Cultural Arts Tour” Art Square Studios, Houston, TX
2002 "Project Row Houses Arts & Music Festival" Houston, TX
Exhibitions Curated by Michael K Taylor
2013 "Museum of Fine Arts Houston: 17th Annual Citywide” MFAH's Glassell Gallery Houston,TX
2012 “Surrounded by Giants: The Photography of Jason Woods” Community Artists' Collective, Houston, TX "Museum of Fine Arts Houston: 16th Annual Citywide” Various Locations around Houston,TX
2011 “Obritas” Community Artists' Collective in Collaboration with Talento Bilingue de Houston, , Houston, TX
2010 “Offline” International Film & Video Exhibition Community Artists’ Collective, Houston, TX “Eco-logic” Environmental Art Exhibition - Co-Curator Divya Murthy, Community Artists’ Collective, Houston, TX
2008 “Love Movement” Visual Art and Dance Exhibition @ Community Artists’ Collective, , Houston, TX “Of Women” Exhibition of Women Artists - Co-Curator Sarah Trotty, Community Artists’ Collective , Houston, TX
2007 - 2006 “Future Present Series” Vol 1 & Vol 2, Community Artists' Collective, Houston, TX
Discussions and Artists Talks
2012 “The Early History of African-American Photographers in the US” Community Artists' Collective, Houston, TX
2012 “Collectors, Artists, and Curatorial Talk” Community Artists' Collective, Houston, TX
2011 Archetypes Project Row Houses, Houston, TX
2011 “Alpha's Bet is not Over” New Museum New York, NY
2011 "What's The New News" curated by Nathaniel Donnett, Community Artists' Collective, Houston, TX
2010 TEDx YouthPerformance Art and Artist Talk, NASA Houston (Technology, Entertainment, Design), Houston, TX
2010 Artist & Curator talk - Spacetaker, Houston, TX
2010 Artist Talk “DARe to go FURther” - Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX
2009 Artist Talk “Probe” - GoDown Arts Center Nairobi, Kenya
2009 Artist Talk “Re:Vision Pro:Cess” - Prairie View University
2009 “State of the Black Arts” Panel Discussion – Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Houston, TX
2008 “State of the Black Arts” Panel Discussion, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Houston, TX Diverse Works Artist Development Workshop (Creative Capital), Houston, TX
Art Institutions and Teaching Experience
2012 Middle School Art Teacher, Grady Middle School, , Houston, TX
2012 - 2007Art Exhibitions Coordinator,Community Artists' Collective, Houston, TX
2011 - 2010Young Artist Apprenticeship Program (High School Students), Blaffer Art Museum (a "Coming Up Talle"r award from the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities winning program), Houston, TX
2011 - 2007 Summer Seasonal and after school teaching positions in Performance Poetry, Visual Art, and/or Journalism, Project Row Houses, Houston, TX
2010 - 2009 K-5 Art Teacher University of Houston Charter School, Houston, TX
2008 Spoken Word Workshop Feature (Young Houston Writers), Houston, TX Poetry Slam Team Coach (T.S.U. Collegiate), Houston, TX Spoken Word Instructor (Voices Breaking Boundaries), Houston, TX
2006 - 2005 State Standardized Testing Writing Coach, and Reading Teacher (Hartman M.S. HISD), Houston, TX
2004 - 2001 Entrepreneurial Middle School teacher in Journalism, Design, & Art - People in Partnership, Houston, TX
2000 - 1997 Blaffer Gallery Docent (Exhibition Education & Tours), at University of Houston, Houston, TX