Michael J. McBride

Michael J. McBride, a native Tennessean, earned his undergraduate degree in art from Tennessee State University and his graduate degree in painting from Illinois State University, where he credits Dr. Harold Gregor with providing a world-class artistic mentorship. His commitment to the Nashville art world's future has always been at the forefront of his own career. He served as the curator of the Hiram V. Gordon Gallery at Tennessee State University from 1995 – 2000 and has been the lead artist on many community-based mural projects in Nashville and Sister Cities Mural Projects. Michael is a tenured faculty member in Tennessee State University's art department and a former founding member of the Board of Trustees for the Frist Art Museum in Nashville.

McBride was featured in "Visions of My People," sixty years of African American art in Tennessee, an exhibit organized by the Tennessee State Museum, and one of his pieces was purchased for their permanent collection. He was one of twelve Nashville artists selected by The Tennessean newspaper for inclusion in the Millennium 2000 Collection, a signal honor. Another honor was the Side-by-Side sister cities exhibition with Belfast, Northern Ireland, featuring 17 artists from Nashville and 17 artists from Ireland. In the summer of 2005, he was awarded a ten-week artist-in-residence position in Bermuda with the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art, which now has two of his works in its collection.

His current body of work titled "Too Black Too Fast" is a traveling exhibition of art about African-American jockeys and trainers, which was the featured art exhibition for the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park in Miami, FL, sponsored by Baccarat in 2022. McBride's work is included in both private and corporate collections in the US and abroad. His work has been featured on television sitcoms such as "Living Single," "The Wayans Bros. Show," and "The Jamie Foxx Show," and he has illustrated over 80 children's books. He was the featured artist for the 2022 Pegasus World Cup Horse Race at Gulfstream Racetrack in Miami, FL, and the featured artist for the 2023 Iroquois Steeplechase Horse Race in Nashville, TN. Currently, McBride is an Arts in the Airport Board member, W.O. Smith Music School board member, Arts Bellevue board member, and a member of South Arts southern artist registry. He was recently commissioned to paint a large mural of Congressman John Lewis for downtown Nashville.