Michael Brolly is woodturning artist known for his mastery of lathe turning techniques. Brolly earned his B.F.A. in Fine Arts from Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA, from which he graduated Cum Laude in 1981. Brolly returned to academics in 2007, earning his M.F.A in Wood/Furniture Design from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, MA which enabled him to teach art in University settings. He discovered lathing techniques while working as a steelworker in college, saying that the discovery was “like the pleasure orb in Sleeper: I just did not want to let go.”

• Born: 1950, Philadelphia, PA
• Hometown: Bethlehem, PA
• Education: University of Massachusetts, 2007; Kutztown University, 1981

About Michael Brolly

Michael Brolly is known for his brilliantly unique perspective. His lathe turned objects are often unexpected and playful, featuring subjects like insects and aliens, and evoking the organic forms of exoskeletons, spikes, and other features commonly found among creatures of the natural and the supernatural worlds.

Through his lens, Brolly injects cultural and humanistic commentary into a naturalistic form. He hopes to “share exhilarating joy and to cope with heart rending sorrow,” as art has been a form of expression of these and other emotions for him since his childhood in the blue-collar South Philadelphia of his youth, where he first declared his intention to become an artist after his first day in kindergarten. Brolly cites Stephen Hogbin and Albert LeCoff as major influences and is a contemporary pioneer of post-Pop woodworking.

Brolly’s Artistic Origins

Brolly began participating in invitational exhibitions in 2000, and has become recognized on a global scale, with his work in private and public collections around the world including the MoMA, the Detroit Institute of Art, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In 2017, the Ronald K. DeLong Gallery at Penn State University hosted Michael Brolly: REDUX, an exhibition that highlighted Brolly’s distinctive wood turning style and combination of sculptural materials, including glass, metal, and wood.

His book, Cradle to Cradle, highlights his exemplary wood turning techniques as well as the robust and dreamlike ethos behind them. He often refers to art as something of a foreign planet, upon which he landed squarely in the realm of contemporary success.

Awards and Distinctions

Michael Brolly has won many awards, including most recently the 2008 Second Place & People’s Choice award and the 2003 and 2004 Best Of Show awards from the Wharton Esherick Museum of Paoli, PA and in 1997 and 1999, First Place at the American Woodworkers Show in Fort Washington PA. Michael Brolly’s TED Talk, How Do We Say We Are Sorry: Singing to Whales explains a poignant work of Brolly’s– a boat doubling as an instrument that can be played to whales, inspired by his encounter with a model ship at the New Bedford Whaling Museum and his resulting contemplation of human impact on the natural world.

Brolly’s Current Endeavors

Today, Michael Brolly continues creating unique and otherworldly objects while serving as a faculty member at Moravian Academy in Bethlehem, PA, where he lives with his wife and children. He is a member of the Exhibitionist Museum for Art in Wood, Furniture Society, the Good Wood Alliance, and a Charter Member of the American Association of Woodturners.