Mike Glad was born in Pensacola, Florida. The son of an aviation naval officer, he grew up in cities throughout the United States and Europe. He attended Georgia Tech on a football scholarship, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering.
Mike Glad is a well-known supporter of the California tribal art scene, and over the years has acquired a collection of important artifacts from Indonesia, Oceania, Asia, and Africa. An avid art collector, Mike Glad has amassed one of the world’s most diverse animation art collections, which has been exhibited in museums throughout Europe and the United States.
Mike Glad has spent thirty-five years traveling in developing countries documenting the lives of indigenous people. He has contributed photos to several travel magazines and books, and in 2006 he won Costco’s International Photo Contest, which had received more than 30,000 entries. Over the years throughout Mexico and Central America, Mike Glad observed the changing traditions of indigenous cultures and wanted to tell their story. In 2000, Glad financed and produced The Spirit of the Maya, about the modern Maya culture. In 2002, with partner Leslie Iwerks, he embarked on Recycled Life, a documentary about the thousands of people that earn livelihoods picking through the trash in the Guatemala City garbage dump. This documentary placed first in more than a dozen film festivals and was nominated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the Oscar for Documentary Short Subject in 2007. Glad produced another film A Safe Passage, which help raise over $3 million for a nonprofit organization (Safe Passage) that helps children whose parents work in the Guatemala City dump.
At the turn of the new decade, Mike Glad left the business world to focus full time on photography. In 2010 he worked with Michael and Greg Hamson for the book Art of the Boiken. Additionally, he spent 3 months in Ethiopia photographing the people and the wildlife particularly the birds. In 2012, he has visited Guatemala five-time preparing for an exhibit “Faith and Celebration in Guatemala” that opened in March 2012 at the Museo Ixchel in Guatemala City
Learn MoreThough retired, Mike Glad takes an active role in his community, alongside the Glad Family Trust. Over the years, he has become a critical humanitarian who has donated much of his goodwill and income to various groups. For example, he recently helped set up the Icons of American Animation Exhibition, transforming the nation’s understanding of […]
When Mike Glad set up The Art of Anime and Everything Cool Auction for late June, he hoped to raise a little money and awareness of anime and western animation. However, his expectations were blown out of the water during a three-day bidding war that showed just how popular this art remains. The Huge Sale […]
Mike Glad loves football, and the NFL is always a unique and almost operatic situation, with trades, unexpected successes, shocking failures, and much more transforming each season. Here are a few predictions that Glad believes could be very interesting to play out in 2021-2022. What Glad Thinks Will Happen This Season First of all, Mike […]
Mike Glad is a retired animation fan who has done much to help promote this art form and increase its appreciation throughout the world. And his upcoming anime sale will take his love and spread it to other fans by allowing them to purchase art directly from their favorite series. Information on the Anime Sale […]