Glen Michaels

Glen Michaels (July 21, 1927 – October 17, 2020) was an American sculptor and painter.

Early life Glen Michaels was born on July 21, 1927, in Spokane, Washington. He attended Yale School of Music to study piano from 1950 to 1952, but did not finish his degree. He moved to New York City and worked for Harper's Magazine but later returned to Spokane where he attended Eastern Washington College of Education and received his B.A. in Art Education in 1957. After receiving his degree, he taught art at a local public school for two years.

Michaels moved to Michigan to pursue an M.F.A at the Cranbrook Academy of Art. He had a major in painting and a ceramics minor. He eventually published a book, Oh! You're a musician : a book of cartoons (1951). He was encouraged by Mary Petty and Alan Dunn to seek cartooning and illustration work. He was entranced by how the manicured gardens blended perfectly into the wild.

Artwork Early in his career his work was shown at the Bertha Schaefer Gallery in New York City (October 3–22, 1960 and January 2–20, 1962). His work was well reviewed in the New York Times by art critic John Canaday (January 7, 1962). Michaels was featured at the opening night event for the 1968 Museum of Contemporary Crafts exhibition "Objects Are...? ". "The invitation requested that attendees bring with them an object – “larger or smaller than a breadbox, anything from a paper clip to a barn door” – as their ticket to admission. These objects became part of an object collage produced on the spot by “master assembler” artist Glen Michaels". Michaels was singled out in a New Yorker Talk of the Town feature by George W. S. Trow.

His work installations include the Bricktown Station (Detroit People Mover), the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the IMF in Washington, D.C. and the Ford Motor Company 1964 New York World's Fair exhibit (now installed in the Henry Ford Centennial Library). Mr. Michaels was honored and exhibited at the Scarab Club in Detroit, at the time of his 90th birthday. In 2017, Mr. Michaels was asked by the Downtown NewsMagazine to name his favorite sculpture. He replied, “Whatever is the most recent is always my favorite.”

Michaels was amused when his friend, author Elmore Leonard, used his name as a character in this novel Out of Sight.