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After spending the afternoon chatting with Howard Michaels in his cozy condo surrounded by his retro “POP” paintings and sculptures, one cannot help but feel inspired. From pop musicians to his feline pal, Emma, to his massive King Tut sculpture as a backdrop in the living room, Howard’s artistic creations adorn every inch of his home. Howard says his success as an artist began at WP.
One of Howard’s favorite memories from WP around 1973 was painting a large orangutan in shades of blue and blue/green behind bars, titled “Zoo Blues”. It distinctly depicts the implicit sadness and cruelty to animals caged in older-style zoos. Also from his WP days, Howard recalls the famous “center of the campus” rock used as a platform for orators including students and professors alike. History professor Terry Ripmaster had a profound effect on Howard, opening his mind to global complexities. Professor Ripmaster made him think critically about world events, including the Vietnam War and apartheid, during a transformative time.
Howard surrounded by some of his "Urban Pop” portrait series of music legends
Howard also met and became friends with Black studies professor Vernon McClean, who was the faculty advisor for UJAMAA magazine, the William Paterson College journal of the Black Students Union. As a student artist and photographer, Howard became affiliated and contributed work in two of the magazine’s issues, January 1974 and Spring 1975, helping to capture a historic and nostalgic look back at a Black perspective in American society and at William Paterson College. Later in life, Howard produced a mixed media piece outlining 50 years of chaotic historical domestic events, originally entitled “American Enigma,” and ultimately “From Sea to Shining ControverSea.” Through a multitude of collaged images, the intention of the piece was to show his slant on the unanswered and sometimes bizarre social and political news stories. It is also meant to remind us to remain open-minded, as things are not always what the news tells us. Through critical thinking developed first while attending William Paterson College, Howard’s overall inspiration for the piece was looking back and questioning history and how it is visually portrayed and perceived.
After graduating from WP in 1975, Howard left his hometown of Paterson and ventured to New South Wales, Australia, for a teaching opportunity. He was recruited to teach for two years and spent one year in a remote outback town and one in Sydney.
In the 1980s, Howard co-authored two books about the National Historic Landmark town of Cape May, New Jersey. He and good friend Marsha Cudworth saw that Cape May was becoming a mecca for foodies and lovers of Victorian architecture, and the two artists/authors self-published and fully illustrated Victorian Holidays: Guest Houses and Bed & Breakfast Accommodations Including Restaurants and Architectural Self-Guided Tours: Cape May, N.J. Through the 1990s, Howard’s interest in historical scenes led him to develop a collection of original vintage Jersey Shore black-and-white photographs, which he individually hand-tinted, using photo oils. The hand-tinting work kept him quite busy for some time—with Howard providing a 1991 cover for the Princeton Alumni Weekly commemorating the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Left: “From Sea to Shining ControverSea, 32” x 48”, mixed media; Right: The cover of the January 1974 issue of the Black Student Union Magazine, featuring Howard’s work
Howard’s art has also appeared on the cover and inside Scholastic magazine, New Jersey Outdoors, and Victorian Homes. A full-page example of his work was featured in the textbook, The Marshall’s Hand Coloring Guide and Gallery Book (Grace and George Schaub, 1995). He was one of 50 American artists highlighted in this publication.
Howard joined the New Jersey public school system in 1992 and taught art for 28 years from the intermediate level through middle school. While teaching fourth through sixth grade art students at Lawrence Intermediate School in Lawrence Township, NJ, Howard had an idea for an ancient Egyptian history and modern upcycling lesson. A large, rectangular IKEA box became his inspiration for a King Tut sculpture. From plaster craft, modeling paste, aluminum foil, a pencil box, and lightweight materials used to shape the sculpture, the historical figure came to life. After the project became very complicated, Howard realized that he wanted to create the 3D piece by himself as art and a labor of love. After over a year and a half of work, the finished sculpture, amidst hieroglyphics, is bejeweled with trendy earrings and tattoos. The final touch was to make the piece functional by adding hand mannequins to hold Bose cube speakers for his stereo unit.
Notwithstanding his long-time career as an accomplished artist and art educator, Howard is quite humble. He has great respect for the styles of different artists, and has a unique style himself, which is self-admittedly time-consuming but has become his trademark over eight years. He uses wood panels as his canvas, creating portraits of beloved musicians and respected historical figures through hand cutting stencils and spray painting to provide a graphic rendition of highlights and shadows. The final intricate details are traditionally painted with acrylic paint and brush. His remarkable talent is rivaled only by his peaceful nature.
Today, Howard sells and exhibits his art through his company, Twin Pop Pictures, named for a 1953 black-and-white photo of his now-departed family members enjoying twin popsicles on the steps of their childhood home in Paterson. “To me, the image is a nostalgic look back to a simpler bygone era when enjoying a delicious popsicle could be a child’s highlight on a hot summer day,” he says. These days, Howard can be found creating in his studio, spray painting his pieces at Terra Cycle Trenton, a recycling to upcycling company specializing in the most difficult materials, or traveling abroad, most recently on a road scholar tour of the Amalfi Coast, Italy.
Howard recently established the Howard Michaels Endowed Fine Art Scholarship in his estate plans, joining other alumni and friends in the William Paterson University Hobart Society. His generosity will undoubtedly make a lasting impact by providing WP fine art students with the financial support they need to pursue their education and artistic passions.
When asked what advice he has for new WP grads, Howard says, “Keep yourself open to anything.” He started his experience as a fine arts major without a minor in education until he began taking classes in his junior year. That decision was life-changing and opened everything including a two-year teaching position in Australia and a full teaching career in New Jersey. “Don’t limit yourself and be proactive when an opportunity arises,” he adds. It can be scary in the beginning, like growing up 20 miles from New York City and finding your first real job could be living in a rural town of 2,000 people teaching art in New South Wales.”
