Michael Smith (b. Chicago, USA, 1951) studied with the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program (1970-1973), and received a BA from Colorado College (1973). He is a recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship award (1985), four National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Fellowships (1978, '82, '88, '91), and most recently The Alpert Award in the Arts (2012). Smith currently lives and works in New York, NY, and Austin, TX.