Michael McBride

(b.1957) lives in Nashville
Sensual Melody, 2009
oil on canvas, 40 x 60 inches, 2015.65.14

McBride earned his B.F.A. from Tennessee State University and his M.F.A. in painting from Illinois State University. He taught at Watkins College of Art and Design and Film and served as curator of the Hiram V. Gordon Gallery at Tennessee State University. He has been the lead artist on projects including Sister Cities Mural Projects and the Nashville International Airport’s Arts in the Airport program. McBride was featured in Visions of My People: Sixty Years of African American Art in Tennessee, an exhibit organized by the Tennessee State Museum. McBride is currently is an instructor of art at Tennessee State University.

I like being able to take them(art students) from where they are now—maybe with a poster of a rap star in their room—to where I want them to be, with an appreciation of Vincent Van Gogh. I want them to understand the similarities of both types of art and the contrasts. That way, it is relevant to their lives today. As an artist, I like to give a view that people haven’t seen before with their own eyes or through the lens of a camera. – McBride