Michael Koerner earned his B.F.A. in Printmaking from Herron School of Art in 1996 prior to embarking on a career in graphic design that led him from a local ad agency to undertaking visually based cultural and marketing research throughout the US, Germany and Slovakia. In 2000 he relocated to Scotland and earned an M.F.A. in Painting from Edinburgh College of Art. Michael remained in Scotland for another 5 years; he combined his art practice with adjunct teaching in drawing and painting at Edinburgh College of Art, and worked at the Garvald Centre, a Rudolph Steiner based art center supporting adults with learning disabilities. He earned a Scottish Vocational Qualification Level III in Health & Social Care.
In the fall of 2007, Michael moved back to the United States. He is currently an Assistant Professor of New Media at Indiana University and teaches digital illustration, typography design, painting, and publication/editorial design while running the Design Center assisting local non-profits with design solutions. Over the course of 8 years with the University, the Center has supported over 60 non-profit clients with 214 projects positively affecting 5 Indiana counties.
Michael has been involved professionally in the arts for 21 years and has a genuine, long standing record of utilizing an interdisciplinary and socially responsive approach. Satire is the thread that runs through the majority of his art practice. Michael’s artwork has been exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally, including: London, Chicago, San Diego, Athens, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Moscow, Rome, Belfast and South Korea. His work has been recognized by Sothebys, Bonhams and Phillips Auctioneers, is listed on artnet.com and resides in permanent corporate collections in the US, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Most notably, two of his paintings were acquired into the United Kingdom’s national collection. In 2015, Michael won the juror’s award for his animation short “The Shape of Heroes & Villains” from the Annmarie Sculpture Garden and Arts Center in association with the Smithsonian Institute; this piece was also chosen as a selection for the 2016 Athens Digital Arts Festival held in Athens, Greece.
