Born in Dothan, Alabama in 1946, Michael McCarty received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Auburn University in 1970. Originally enrolled in Pre Veterinary Medicine, McCarty changed his major to Visual Design, after the musical group Steppenwolf used a reproduction of one of his pen and ink drawings of the band for a poster. After graduation from Auburn in 1970, McCarty had his first One Man Show at The Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts in Montgomery, Alabama.

McCarty worked as Designer-Illustrator for GraphicsGroup, Inc. in Atlanta, Georgia, servicing major advertising agencies all over the U.S. and abroad. In 1976, after freelancing album cover art and design work for songwriter/producer Buddy Buie, and music publishing mogul Bill Lowery, Michael and wife, Sherri formed a design studio business, McCartyGraphics, where he designed logos, album covers, posters, t-shirt designs, magazine ads, book covers, etc, for some musical greats, including the following: Atlanta Rhythm Section, Jerry Lee Lewis, Isaac Hayes, James Brown, Little Richard, Sam and Dave, Patti Smith, Willie Nelson, Piano Red, Whispering Bill Anderson, Albert Coleman and The Atlanta Pops Orchestra, KC and the Sunshine Band, Peabo Bryson, Paul Davis, Rossington-Collins Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Waylon Jennings, Percy Sledge, Clarence Carter, William Bell, The BarKays, Mylon LeFevre, Joe South, Solomon Burke, Dennis Yost and the Classics IV, The Outlaws, Billy Joe Royal, Tommy Roe, Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston. Other non-musical clientele included Lewis Grizzard, Dave Barry, and President Jimmy Carter.

Michael McCarty served on the Board of Governors with the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences for over 20 years, and was appointed to the Senate Music Committee by Georgia Governor Zell Miller. Awarded “2009 Artist of the Year” by Beaches of South Walton TDC. In 2018, he was the Honoree for the Wiregrass Blues Society and presented with the “Living Legend Award”, and that same year had a One Man Show at the Wiregrass Museum of Fine Art from January through the end of June.
Michael McCarty is an Abstract Artist who produces contemporary, modern art (often with a graphic flair). His work is filled with an abundance of color and interwoven with subtle visual suggestions, at times leaving interpretations up to the viewer’s own imagination.

His artworks may be viewed in person at The Gallery of MonetMonet on 30A in Grayton Beach.