After growing up in Strasburg, a small town in central Illinois, Michael did a four-year tour of duty in the U.S. Army. From 1982 to 1985 he studied art at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL. He graduated with a B. A. in Art (summa cum laude) in 1985 before pursuing a master's degree, also at SIU-C, graduating in 1987 with an M.S. in Ed. in teaching art.
In 1998 Evangel University in Springfield, MO hired Michael to teach painting, drawing and art history. While continuing to teach at Evangel, he began an M.F.A. program at the University of Missouri, Columbia. From 1998 to 2002, he commuted to MU during semesters and took summer courses. Buesking obtained two graduate assistantships to teach Beginning Drawing in the Art Department at MU. He was twice awarded the Dorothy L. Roll ins Scholarship in Painting and Drawing by the art faculty at MU, (2000, 2001).While at Columbia, Michael was strongly influenced by painters William Hawk and Frank Stack.
A sabbatical from Evangel University in the spring of 2002 enabled him to complete his M.F.A. in Painting and Drawing with a thesis exhibit of paintings and monoprints: Prophet as Artist: Symbolic Actions of the Old Testament Prophets.
Michael's work has been juried into regional shows. In 2005 he received a second place cash award in the Southwest Missouri State's Centennial Art Exhibition. One of his Prophet as Artist paintings was part of the inaugural contemporary art triennial at the Museum of Biblical Art (MOBIA) in New York City in 2006, The Next Generation: Contemporary Expressions of Faith. That work is also part of a traveling exhibition for the CIVA (Christians in the Visual Arts) Directory and website Gallery in 2007.
Michael continues in his position as an Associate Professor of Art at Evangel University, and also leads travel courses for Evangel University to Florence, Rome and Venice, Italy every other summer. He is frequently asked to judge local shows and displays work in local churches such as Praise Assembly of God Church and Evangel Temple of Springfield, MO. He resides in Springfield with his wife Debbie, and his children, Molly and Sam.
