Michael Rice (b. 1972, Belfast) is an Irish artist, designer, maker, and educator specializing in ceramics, currently based in Dubai. He holds a BA in Fine Craft Design, a PGCE in Art and Design, and an MA in Multi-Disciplinary Design from the University of Ulster.
His teaching career spans schools, colleges, universities, and international art centers, and he has undertaken residencies in the UK, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the UAE, and Indonesia. A member of the International Academy of Ceramics (Geneva), Michael has contributed to Ceramic Review (UK), Ceramics: Art and Perception(Australia), and Ceramics Ireland. He regularly presents his work at leading institutions worldwide, including the University of Ulster (UK), the Rhode Island School of Design (USA), and NYU Abu Dhabi (UAE).
Michael’s work has garnered significant international recognition. In 2016, he was a finalist in the Taiwan Ceramic Biennale and runner-up in the Van Cleef & Arpels Middle East Emergent Designer Prize. He was a finalist in the 2019 Korean Ceramic Biennale and returned as a finalist at the Taiwan Ceramic Biennale in 2020.
In 2021, his work was included in Ceramic Expressions during Singapore Art Week and shortlisted for the KOGEI Award in Toyama, Japan. That same year, he was selected for the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland’s Portfolio: Critical Selection and exhibited in both the MENASA Emirati Design Platform and the Irish Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai.
Further International exhibitions followed in 2022 with Conjuring Form at the National Design & Craft Gallery, Kilkenny. In 2023, Michael was named a Master Artisan by the Michelangelo Foundation and became a finalist in the 30th Mediterraneo International Ceramic Art Competition at the Museo della Ceramica in Grottaglie, Italy.
In 2024 he received an Honourable Mention at the 31st Mediterraneo edition in Italy, showed as a finalist in the 15th Westerwald Prize at the Keramikmuseum Westerwald, Germany, and earning the Judges’ Recommendation Award at the Taiwan Ceramic Biennale. He also exhibited in Secret Ceramics at SoShiro during London Craft Week.
In 2025, Michael’s work was once again featured in LCW Secret Ceramics, this time exhibited and auctioned at Christie’s, London. He was selected as a finalist for the 17th International Biennale of Artistic Ceramics in Aveiro, Portugal; the Martinsons Award at the Latvian Ceramics Biennale at the Rothko Museum, Daugavpils; and the Korean Craft Biennale in the Cheongju International Craft Competition, where his piece ‘Sea Blue Coral Vessel’ earned a Judges’ Honourable Mention. He was also chosen to exhibit in the Michelangelo Foundation’s inaugural INTERWOVEN Homo Faber capsule exhibition in Seville, Spain.
Michael is currently Chair of the Visual Communication Department and Professor of Studio Art at the American University in Dubai.