murphy was born in youngstown, ohio. he earned his bachelor of fine arts and sculpture training from kent state university in 2000. he then earned his master of fine arts in art and technology from the art institute of chicago while focusing on sound art, installation and metal casting. in 2000 murphy began his teaching career at the art institute of chicago. he taught at various universities for twelve years until he retired in 2013 to focus exclusively on his art. according to his website, "for the past two years michael has been partnering with michael jordan and nike creating centerpiece works of art for their retail environments incorporating murphy's stylistic approach into the jordan brand."