Steve Brown was born in Flint, MI, in 1980, and studied art in Detroit and Germany where his essay collection Glänze, Gespenst! was published in 2014. His writing has appeared in Witness, Dummy Magazine, DIAGRAM, and elsewhere, and received two Pushcart Prize nominations. He has staged exhibitions internationally, been awarded residencies at the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology and elsewhere, and received grants from the Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation, among others. Since 2016 Brown has been co-founding and leading a foundation in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He and his husband have been married for more than a decade.
PUBLICATIONS
Book: News of Need, Poems, Steve Brown, 2025
Book: Trample & Sew, Poems, Steve Brown, 2025
Book: Glänze, Gespenst!, Verlage Haffmans & Tolkemitt, Berlin, 2014 (German/y)
“The Enlarged Heart,” Northwind, (2013)
“A Burgeoning Life,” Witness, Issue XXVI No. 1, Spring Issue, 2013
“The Infinite Carcass,” The Tusculum Review, Spring Issue, 2013
“The Neighborhood Machine,” Juked, Print Issue #10, 2013
“Pferdekopf,” Lautschrift, Winter Issue, 2012, (German/y)
“Dirty Old Gentleman,” J Journal, Issue #10, 2012
“Hostage Valley,” Cerise Press, Vol. 4 Issue 11, 2012
“Wiedergutmachung,” hEFt Magazin, Issue # 29, 2012 (German/y)
“Old Pink Kitty,” Revolution House, Vol. 2.2., 2012
“Some Say Andy Griffith Had What It Takes,” DIAGRAM, Issue 12.4, 2012
“Laundry Night, Coshocton,” and “River Fishing Scene,” The Dunes Review, Summer 2012
“Memory Hole,” Northwind Magazine, Summer Issue, 2012
“Geiseltalsee,” DUMMY, Issue #35, 2012 (German/y)
“An Audience of the Liberated,” Public Art Dialogue, Special Issue Summer, 2012
“The Soul of Boiling,” Word Riot, Summer Issue, 2012
“Klarschiff,” Frühstück mit Axt, anthology published by Neues Leben, 2012 (German/y)
“Youth Suite, Five Memoirs,” Educe, Issue 1, 2012
“Rest Stop Apologia,” Black Warrior Review, Issue 38.2, 2012
“The Day Planner,” The Dunes Review, Winter Issue 2012
“Remedial Futurism,” Otis Nebula, Issue 4, 2012
“After We Agreed Not To,” Allotrope, Issue 3, 2011
“Reject Interesting People,” The Destroyer, Issue 1, 2011
“A Retired Doctor,” Driftwood, Issue 10, 2011
Body Palimpsest, Stories for Nohra, limited-edition ill. hardcover, Bauhaus-Universität, 2008
“Gather Change Gather,” the art catalog Wackelkontakt, Bauhaus-Universität, 2007
[COSHOCTON], Pomerene Center for the Arts, 2007
What Ever Happened to Elena Borowski?, limited-edition hardcover, Bauhaus-Universität, 2007
“Art Forum Berlin in 1,000 Words or Less,” The Glen Arbor Sun, 10/2006
LECTURES AND READINGS
08/2012 Dune Review volume 16, Issue 2, release party, Glen Arbor Art Association
06/2012 hEFt #29 release party, Erfurt, Germany
06/2012 Thuringian Literature Festival, Burg Ranis Pösneck, Germany
05/2012 Frühstück mit Axt book tour, Literaturhaus Magdeburg, Kunstforum Halle, Germany
9/2011 Radio F.R.E.I, Freier Rundfunk Erfurt International, Erfurt, Germany
08/2011 Das Fundbüro, Leipzig, Germany
05/2011 Jenseits des Wachstums / The Other Side of Growth, Technical University Berlin
01/2010 Another Country, Berlin, Germany
07/2008 Stadtbucherei, Weimar, Germany
06/2008 Spartanheim, Nohra, Germany
06/2008 The Gerber, Weimar, Germany
08/2007 Guest Speaker, West Shore Community College, MI
10/2006 Graduate Lecturer, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Germany
09/2005 Guest Speaker, Lake Street Studio, MI
10/2004 Guest Speaker, Glen Arbor Art Association, MI
AWARDS AND NOMINATIONS
2022 Prairie Ronde Artist Residency, The Mill, Vicksburg, MI
2013 Michigan Writers Cooperative Press contest finalist for chapbook “Trample & Sew”
2012 Pushcart Prize nomination from Educe for nonfiction text “Youth Suite: Five Essays”
2012 Pushcart Prize nomination from J Journal for nonfiction text “Dirty Old Gentleman”
2011 New Michigan Press, Innovative fiction contest, finalist, “Audience of the Liberated”
2009 Ohio Arts Council, Arts Innovation Grant
2007 Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation Grant
2005 Artrain USA, Bob and Maggie Allesee Artist Fellowship
2004 Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, Otis, OR, Artist Residency
2004 Glen Arbor Arts Association, Glen Arbor, MI, Artist Residency
2003 International Sculpture Center, OSAICS Award
2002 Detroit Institute of Art, Art on the Move Residency
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022 New Sculpture, Prairie Ronde Gallery, Vicksburg, MI
2011 Faces, Helios, Jena, Germany
2007 Gather Change Gather, Schott Glasmuseum & Villa, Jena, Germany
2005 Explosion at the Plant, Lake Street Studio, Glen Arbor, MI
2005 New Work, The South Bend Regional Museum of Art, South Bend, IN
2004 The Thoreson Project, Glen Arbor Art Association, Glen Arbor, MI
2004 On the Surface, The College for Creative Studies Alumni Gallery, Detroit
PUBLIC ART PROJECTS AND NEW MEDIA
07-09 [COSHOCTON], the community of Coshocton, Pomerene Center for the Arts, OH
2008 Ich wusste nicht was ich ihm sagen soll, screenings in/at:
Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
Aktualisierungraum, Hamburg, Germany
University of Glasgow, Scotland
International Videoart Festival, Örebro, Sweden
2008 Kampf der Alten / The Fight of the Old, Kunsthalle H. G. Kessler, Weimar, Germany
2007 Verwirrender Faust / Confusing Faust, D.A.S Jugendtheater, Weimar Germany
2007 Wackelkontakt / Loose Contact, Jena Kunstverein, Jena, Germany
05-07 Dali’s Egg, performances and screenings in/at:
Barnsdall Art Park Theater, Hollywood, CA
Kalamazoo Animation Festival International, Kalamazoo, MI
Academy of Fine Arts, Stranger Than Fiction Festival, Helsinki, Finland
Indiana University, Perform.media festival, Bloomington, IN
High Desert Shorts International Film Festival, Pahrump, NV
The Lab, Stranger Than Fiction Festival, San Francisco, CA
2005 Names, University of North Carolina, Pembroke, NC
2005 Passing Through, Pomerene Center for The Arts, Coshocton, OH
2005 Failure In Gettysburg, Gettysburg Scenic Railway HQ, Gettysburg, PA
2003 Volume Activate, Bald Mountain Nature Preserve, Oakland Township, MI
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2009 POP Gallery, Culver City, CA
2008 Art Forum Berlin, represented by Pierogi Leipzig, Germany
2007 B.O.I.C.E Planning, Yokohama, Japan
Windsor Biennial, Art Gallery Windsor, Canada
2006 Wild Information Network, Hartwick College, Hartwick, NY
Drawing Into Painting, Ann Arbor Art Center, Ann Arbor, MI
CCS Centennial, Birmingham-Bloomfield Art Center, MI
2005 Actual Size Biennial, Contemporary Art Institute of Detroit, MI
Drawings, District Arts Gallery, Birmingham, MI
2004 Residents, Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, Otis, OR
DAM Biennial, Detroit Artist Market, Detroit, MI
2003 OSAICS Award Exhibition, Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, NJ
Thesis, Center Galleries, Detroit, MI
Emerging Artists, Batista Gallery, Ferndale, MI
Birmingham-Bloomfield Art Center, MI
The Art Center, Mt. Clemens, MI
CPOP Gallery/Whitney Restaurant, Detroit, MI
Saginaw Art Museum, Saginaw MI
2001 Crooked Tree Art Center, Petoskey, MI
Studio 23, Bay City, MI
SELECTIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY
01/03/2008 “Aus Krempel wird Kunst,” Thüringischen Landeszeitung
2007 “Wachelkontakt,” catalog, Katharina Hohmann
03/02/2007 “Back to The Elements – An Urban Campfire,” Woostercollective.com
27/01/2007 “Lichtstadt wird sozial erleuchtet,” Thüringischen Landeszeitung
16/11/2006 “Markt und Lobeda im neuen Licht,” Jena Zeitung
16/11/2006 “Es Werde Licht-im Jena,” Thüringischen Landeszeitung
12/03/2006 “Artists Share Penchant for Drawing Through Painting,” Ann Arbor News
19/01/2006 “BBAC, CCS Put Art in Partnership,” Rochester Post
07/08/2006 “Works Meaning Left Up To The Viewer,” South Bend Tribune
21/07/2005 “Artists Looking for Help With Exhibit,” Gettysburg Evening Sun
17/02/2005 “Traveling Artist Testing Creative Versatility,” Coshocton Tribune
11/02/2005 “Drawings at District Arts,” The Detroiter
06/10/2004 “Detroit Jewels,” The Metro Times
10/2004 “Steven M Brown- Glen Arbor Artist in Residence,” Glen Arbor Sun
10/2003 “Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture,” Sculpture
EDUCATION
BFA with honors in Studio Art, The College for Creative Studies, Detroit 1999 – 2003
MFA with honors in Public Art, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Germany 2006 – 2008