Mike Lynch was born in 1938 in Hibbing, Minnesota where his father was a mine watchman. He studied painting and drawing with Birney Quick at Grand Marais Art Colony before attending the Minneapolis School of Art (Minneapolis College of Art and Design). In 1960, Lynch launched his career with a solo exhibition at the Kilbride-Bradley Gallery. Over the course of his sixty-year career, Mike received numerous grants and fellowships, including the McKnight Foundation Fellowship (1983, 1987, 1996), the Bush Foundation Fellowship, Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowships, and the prestigious McKnight Foundation Distinguished Artist Award in 2003. He exhibited at the Minnesota Museum of American Art, (solo exhibition) Minneapolis Institute of Art, Duluth Art Institute, Walker Art Center and numerous galleries, most notably Minneapolis' Groveland Gallery starting in 1979. Lynch’s work is found in museum, corporate and private collections throughout the Midwest, including the Minnesota Historical Society, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Walker Art Center, University of Minnesota, General Mills, the Minnesota Department of Revenue, Cargill, Securian, Minneapolis Federal Reserve and many more. Lynch is well known for his contemporary realist portraits of the Midwestern landscapes, often drawing from his car at night. He painted the small town corner bar, abandoned grain elevators, illuminated factories and the twilight rail yards found across the state from the Iron Range, to Duluth, to Minneapolis and the towns in between. His subjects are represented in the quiet times of day – dusk, dawn, midnight and twilight. Lynch painted in the tradition of the American Scene Painters of the early 1900’s, working on location and returning to paint at the same time of day. Mike’s drawings, paintings, and prints influenced many and the legacy of his artwork is passed down today by artists he mentored. Mike passed away in September 2023. He is greatly missed in the Twin Cities art community.