Isthmus art director Tommy Washbush knew of Michael Doyle Olson but didn’t know him personally. Then Michael invited Tommy to a new artist community he started called Magic Pixel Guild, a Discord group still in its early stages.

Tommy says Michael is a “super-talented creative who’s sort of hard to pin down.” He does video, photography, design and illustration — pretty much everything. Tommy tapped him for the July cover.

“We knew we wanted to touch on America’s 250th anniversary, but didn’t have a clear direction other than that,” says Tommy. “I gave Michael that prompt and let him run wild, and he landed on a fun, subversive photo shoot ‘celebrating’ our country’s milestone and also pointing out our many flaws and problems. The ‘I spy’-style of it is something Michael drew from his childhood, and it adds a lot of depth and substance to the piece.”

Michael grew up on Madison’s near east side and lives there today. After exploring different majors at Oberlin College (pre-med, theater and psychology, to name a few), he returned home after his sophomore year. He then discovered that WYOU Public Access television had moved its studio down the block from his house.

He walked over and got a television show the same day. From there, he says, “My interest in art and media evolved into an obsession.” He returned to Oberlin, created his own major, “Communication and Media in the Digital Era,” and graduated in 2012.

Since then he’s worked as everything from a fry cook to reading tutor to graphic designer and photographer. You can see more of his work on his website.