Breaking down barriers; building new futures
By: Madina Knight
Tags: Creativity, Cohort 5, New Zealand, Art, Creative

Michael was drawn to visual and experiential learning experiences from an early age.

As a youngster, he excelled in the woodshop, but dyslexia made reading and writing difficult, so he was forced to repeat the fourth grade. Instead of feeling defeat, Michael seized the opportunity to explore creative workarounds that would propel him through the rest of his school life and into today.

“The barriers I overcame in life drove me to become who I am today. I have two decades of tackling impossible challenges, turning dreams into reality, and inspiring others to do the same.” -Michael Sturtz

In college, Michael searched for the ideal art school and teacher but never found either — even after attending four different art schools. So, he set out to reinvent arts education and vocational training in a truly non-competitive learning environment. In 1999, Michael started his own ultra-accessible hands-on art school, to become the teacher he had been seeking.

Today, The Crucible is the largest nonprofit industrial arts education facility in the US, with over 90 faculty and 8,000 students served yearly.

Michael designed and directed the facilities and programs, including The Crucible’s impressive scholarship program, which builds educational and career pathways for disadvantaged communities.

He also presented stunning theatrical events at The Crucible, uniting industrial arts processes with stagecraft and all manner of performing arts that defined a new genre of entertainment, attracting audiences from around the country.

“I enjoy bringing diverse groups of people together in the community to work collectively on common goals, and steer them toward sustainability and success.” -Michael Sturtz

With the success of The Crucible under his belt, Michael went on to launch the first Stanford University lab housed inside of a Corporation. The Stanford Creative Ignition Lab at Autodesk’s mission is to explore the potential of visual, experiential, and embodied thinking to advance the future of learning, creativity, design, and making.

“We pioneered new ways to more purposefully bring the tools of invention and

production seamlessly into creative processes.” -Michael Sturtz

Michael led the lab until 2017 when he was recruited to lead the Design Kitchen; the in- house design consultancy and prototyping lab at Google X.

There, he focused on early-stage proof-of-concept prototyping for all Google X ‘moonshots.’

While Michael has been consulting and visiting New Zealand for 12 years, as an EHF fellow he can now truly set his sights on helping to shape New Zealand’s future.

He has been working with Callaghan Innovation, traveling the globe to research, interview, and build case studies on critical success factors that establish innovation districts. Michael’s research and recommendations will inform the development of Callaghan Innovation’s Gracefield Innovation Quarter.

Michael is now striving to create Indigeny: an accessible innovation center where happy accidents arise from the intersection of education, technology, science, and indigenous wisdom.

“Drawing inspiration from indigenous wisdom, Indigeny will ideate, incubate, and launch new, Kiwi-born designs, technologies, and materials.” -Michael Sturtz

Michael hopes the lab will create and curate career pathways for the Maori community, high school, and university students, and green innovators to inspire, mentor, and train a new generation of world-class environmental leaders.

“By helping to develop native designs, technologies, materials, and leaders; and creating new educational and employment pathways, Indigeny will contribute to New Zealand’s growing economic independence and elevate New Zealand as a leader in the race to save our planet.”

Michael first visited New Zealand in 2007 to design and help build the metal casting, welding, and blacksmithing facilities for The Learning Connexion near Wellington. It was through his frequent visits in the following years that Michael became passionate about Aotearoa’s potential to lead the world in restorative technologies.

“I feel NZ is unique in its accessibility to government change-makers, indigenous wisdom, and invested open-mindedness about environmental restoration. I believe it’s where Indigeny will receive the support needed to launch a new model of living on the planet.” -Michael Sturtz

Michael believes that launching Indigeny in New Zealand is “the highest and best use of my existence” and he looks forward to partnering with other visionaries at EHF who are similarly impassioned by their own unique missions.