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. Currently, as an instructor of art at Tennessee State University, his commitment to the Nashville art world's future has always been at the forefront of his own career.  McBride has served 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, Sister Cities Mural Projects as well as 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 and one of his pieces was purchase 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.  His current body of work titled “Too Black Too Fast” is a traveling exhibition of art about African- American jockeys and trainers.  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". Michael has also illustrated over 75 children's books and books covers for several publishing groups.