We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Michael Smith-Welch a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Michael, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

As a twelve year old I became very involved with the theater world, acting (and doing some theater tech) for a number of years, on many a stage. Eventually I gravitated towards the visual arts as I was influenced by two great art teachers/mentors. At 18 I decided to go to art school to study fine arts (sculpture, specifically). These experiences – theater, making, etc. – meant I was on a creative path. I never thought of it as a possible profession – I still don’t think of myself as a professional per se. Creating/making is just something I love to do. So i guess I’m just an amateur.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I label myself as an artist and educator. And in both of these worlds I am fundamentally an experimenter. I create, make, learn and teach with light, sound, video, electronics, computation, materials of all type, collaborating with people of all kinds, and with nature. I am passionate about using technology as a creative thinking tool. And by technology, I mean computers and computation of course, but I also think of cardboard and paper and pen as a technology. So maybe by technology I mean material. I call my studio, the places I have exhibited in, and the learning environments where I have taught, a “material feedback workshop.” I have created DIY art environments, worked in both formal (schools) and informal (museums) learning environments around the world. Where my artistic practice and my educational practice intersect is where I am happiest.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative person is collaborating with other creatives. If it’s a large-scale installation with other artists or a classroom with children, if I am collaborating – truly collaborating – with creative people then I feel truly rewarded.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Money and affordable working/living space. Plain and simple. To quote Oscar Wilde, “When bankers have dinner parties, all they talk about is art. When artists have dinner parties, all they talk about is money.”

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