Mike Whitely (b. 1956) grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska. While in Lincoln he married his wife Rita in 1981. They then moved to Boulder Colorado in 1984 where Mike went to graduate school at University of Colorado at Boulder earning a MFA in 1987. Mike worked full time as a Chef for some of the top restaurants in Boulder and Longmont, eventually opening his own catering company in 1996. Mike has shown work in both solo and group shows mostly around the midwest.