Shivangi Sinha
Michael Townsend is a Providence-based artist best known for leading the unconventional project in which a group of artists secretly lived inside the Providence Place Mall in the early 2000s. He spearheaded the idea as both a creative intervention and a critique of rapid urban development, consumerism, and the loss of space for artists in the city. Townsend viewed the hidden apartment as a living artwork and an act of rebellion. Netflix’s ‘Secret Mall Apartment’ features an in-depth interview with him, where he reflects not only on the mall project but also on the other artistic experiments he was pursuing at the time, explaining how he sees art as a tool for questioning systems, creating dialogue, and reimagining everyday spaces.
Michael Townsend’s Idea of Living in the Mall Started as a Bet Between Friends
In 2003, Michael Townsend was working as a drawing instructor at the Rhode Island School of Design, and it was through that role and his broader involvement in Providence’s art community that the idea of living inside the mall took shape. He framed the project as both an act of resistance and a form of performance art, responding to the steady displacement of artists from the city’s Mill District. Townsend had been outspoken about artists being pushed out, especially after the destruction of Fort Thunder, and he continued creating work in the area amid those changes. Along with his then-wife, Adriana Valdez Young, and six others, he began exploring what it would mean to secretly inhabit the mall. What started as a lighthearted bet among friends about who could stay the longest slowly evolved into a serious and sustained project.
Townsend has said he felt compelled to document the experience and began recording it with a small camcorder. In the early days, the group did not even have a place to sleep. However, during the mall’s construction, he had mentally noted a small, unused space that he believed would never be accessed. The group eventually located it and began transforming it into their hidden living area. Over time, they brought in furniture and constructed walls using cinder blocks, gradually turning the space into a functional apartment. In 2007, the project came to an end when mall security discovered the apartment after Townsend brought a friend inside during the daytime and security overheard activity. The space was seized, and Townsend was arrested on trespassing charges. He later pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor trespass, received no jail time, and no other participants were identified or charged.
Michael Townsend Continues to be a Committed Public Advocate Today
Michael Townsend enrolled at the Rhode Island School of Design in 1989 and earned an MFA in Printmaking in 1993. He later completed a Master’s degree in Art Education. Making art since childhood, Townsend has consistently centered creativity as a collaborative, social practice rather than a solitary pursuit. In 1989, he founded Tape Art, a collective that would become the cornerstone of his career. Over the years, Tape Art pioneered the use of tape as a large-scale drawing medium in public spaces. Under Townsend’s leadership, the collective has initiated more than 500 international public art projects, conducted executive leadership and collaboration workshops for organizations such as GE, IBM, Siemens, Hasbro, and Disney, and led classroom workshops for over 50,000 learners.
The group has also created more than a thousand drawings-on-request for hospital patients, reinforcing Townsend’s belief in art as a tool for care, connection, and accessibility. Alongside his studio practice, Townsend played a significant role at RISD between 2000 and 2006. He served as an Adjunct Professor from 2000 to 2001, teaching some of the school’s earliest community art and activism courses, where student projects directly influenced city policy and preservation efforts. From 2001 to 2006, he worked annually as a Drawing Instructor in RISD’s Summer Program, developing individualized curricula that resulted in ambitious installations, performances, and large-scale drawings.
In 2001 and 2002, he also served as RISD’s Art Nurse, supporting students across all majors with creative and technical problem-solving. Townsend is also an author of several children’s books, including ‘Billy Tartle in Say Cheese!,’ ‘Kit Feeny: On the Move,’ ‘Cute and Cuter,’ and ‘Mr. Ball Makes a To-Do List.’ In 2016, he delivered a TEDxProvidence talk, ‘Art in the Boardroom,’ reflecting on the social impact of Tape Art across communities ranging from schools to corporate teams. Today, Townsend continues to lead Tape Art full-time, focusing on large, temporary tape murals. He pushes collaborative drawing and public art projects that bring people together, reinforcing his lifelong commitment to art as a transformative experience.
Michael Townsend and His Girlfriend Share Similar Values
In his personal life, Michael Townsend faced a significant health challenge in early 2025, when he underwent hip surgery. While the procedure was successful, he is still in the process of fully recovering. Despite this, Townsend remained closely involved with the promotion of ‘Secret Mall Apartment’ in 2024 and played an integral role in shaping the documentary and reflecting on its broader meaning. He continues to stay active within the creative community while balancing recovery with ongoing projects. Townsend is currently dating Emily Bryant, an Education Manager at the USS Constitution Museum, and the two share a strong commitment to creativity and public engagement.
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