Growing up the only constant was chaos. Born to a teenage mother and a father in and out of prison, I had three step-fathers and four step-mothers, and moved almost every year of my life. By kindergarten, I’d experienced 9 of the 10 kinds of childhood trauma, including severe physical abuse. But I found solace by burying my toys and drawing treasure maps to find them again, and writing stories where I ran away to the woods and never came home.

I hid my cuts and bruises until one day a teacher dragged the truth out of me. That moment transformed me into someone who listens carefully to what’s unsaid.

As a teenager, I was a fire starter (literally and figuratively) who struggled in school. I failed classes, was suspended several times, was kicked off the bus, and once had 29 days of detention in a row. I had constant run-ins with the law for vandalism and arson, and at age 15 I was arrested and sent to drug rehab. There I learned how to channel my energy into creativity rather than self-destruction. I went from failing to excelling in school, from the suicidal kid who stared at the floor to the social butterfly who knew everyone’s story. At the end of high school I received scholarships for my art and took a job as a traveling actor.

When I told my parents that school suffocated my creativity they told me to become a teacher and change it.

My parents had no money to help me with college, and so my graduation gifts were a tent, an air mattress, a backpack, and a map to explore America. I began building Mobile Incubators - recording studios inside vintage camper trailers - and road tripped to all 50 states to interview thousands of artists, performers, writers, designers, makers, and other entrepreneurs. Their hard fought wisdom inspired me to found the educational media company and movement now known as Culture Hustlers.

“The world is our classroom and each one of us is both a teacher and a student. If we listen closely, and don’t judge, others will give us their treasure, their deepest held truths.”

After earning my BFA and MBA, I was rejected by every PhD program I applied to… and then the next year Harvard sponsored my podcast. I didn’t fit the mold of a traditional professor, so I pioneered a 100% experiential curriculum. I started producing documentaries and photo essays; and authored the “Get Lost” & “Get Found” series of twelve Hustlers Handbooks. I’ve now partnered with schools across the nation like Ringling College of Art & Design and MIT, service orgs like Arts & Business Council and Artist Inc., festivals like ArtPrize, and incubators like Gener8tor.

I thought for a long time that I couldn’t be both a traveler and a teacher. I understand now that the road is my home and that being a wandering teacher - a pollinator - is an occupation older than civilization itself. The truth is we are all unique expressions of what it means to be human, and we don’t belong to one city or country, but to each other.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Culture Hustlers, Founder, 2017 - present

Mobile Incubator, Founder, 2016 - present

17 Cox Visual Art Center, Founder, 2010 - 2014

Services Invisible LLC, Founder, 2009 - present

WORK EXPERIENCE

Blue Sky Center | Interim Executive Director, 2022 - 2023

Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Producer, 2013 - 2017

Tieton Arts & Humanities | Executive Director, 2014 - 2016

Massachusetts Cultural Council | Council Member, 2011 - 2013

Montserrat College of Art | Exhibitions Manager, 2010 - 2013

The Vera Project | Gallery Co-Chair, 2008 - 2010

YMCA of Greater Seattle | Camp Counselor, Arts & Crafts Director, 2008 - 2010

University of Washington | Associate Director, 2007 - 2009

Skits Outreach Services Theater | Director, Actor, Writer, 1999 - 2003

EDUCATION

Masters in Business Administration - Finance, Endicott College, 2014

Master’s Certificate - Emerging Markets, IPADE Universidad Panamerica, 2014

Bachelors in Fine Arts - Interdisciplinary Art & Art History, University of Washington, 2009

Associates of Arts & Science - Creative Writing, University of Wisconsin, 2005

CONTINUING EDUCATION

California Economic Summit, 2023 Conference , Bakersfield CA

Aspen Ideas Festival, 2019 Conference, Aspen CO

Sound Ed, 2018 Conference, Harvard, Cambridge MA

Artists Thrive Summit, 2018 Conference, Berea KY

College Art Association, 2018 Conference, Los Angeles, CA

Scaling Development Ventures, 2017 Conference - MIT, Cambridge MA

The PhD Project, 2016 Annual Conference - Chicago IL

Washington Non-Profits, 2015 Annual Conference - Seattle WA

New England Museum Association, 2012 Annual Conference - Burlington VT

Google Book Conference, 2009, NYU - Steinhardt, NYC

AWARDS, RESIDENCIES & FELLOWSHIPS

Talent Works Here, Walton Family Foundation, 2022

Tulsa Remote, George Kaiser Foundation, 2020

Aspen Ideas Fellow, Aspen Institute, 2019

ArtWorks Grant - National Endowment for the Arts, 2017

Opportunity Fund Recipient - Boston Arts Commission, 2017

Public Art Residency - Boston Center for the Arts, 2017

Infinite Mile Award - MIT School of Architecture + Planning, 2014

Best Essay - New England Art Awards, 2011

Clean Award - aLIVe, 2009

Artistic Scholarship - SOS Players, 2003

National Art Honor Society Scholarship - NAHS, 2002

EDUCATIONAL EVENTS

Hello-Goodbye Viaduct Arts Festival, 2019, Seattle Office of the Arts, Seattle WA

Pink Slip Party, 2018, Boston Center for the Arts, Boston MA

Being Material, Symposium and Exhibition, 2017, MIT Center for Art, Science and Technology, Cambridge MA

LiTFUSE, Poetry Workshop and Performances, 2010, 2015, 2016, LiTFUSE, Carnation, WA

10x10x10xTieton, International Exhibition, 2010, 2015, 2016, Tieton Arts & Humanities, Tieton WA

Dia de los Muertos, Exhibition and Performances, 2010, 2015, 2016, Tieton Arts & Humanities, Tieton WA

Holiday Antique and Crafts Bazaar, Marketplace and Performances, 2015, 2016, Mighty Tieton, Tieton WA

Reconstructing Beethoven, Symposium, 2014, MIT Media Lab, Cambridge MA

Public Space, Symposium & Exhibition, 2014, MIT Program in Art, Culture & Technology, Cambridge MA

Cinematic Migrations, Symposia, 2014, MIT Program in Art, Culture & Technology, Cambridge MA

Culturunners, Symposium & Exhibition, 2014, Edge of Arabia, London UK

Art as Activism - Guerrilla Girls, Symposium & Exhibition, 2012, Montserrat College of Art, Beverly MA

PUBLICATIONS

Get Found, set of 6 handbooks & 18 lesson videos, 2021

Get Lost, set of 6 handbooks & 18 lesson videos, 2020

Culture Hustlers, 40 episodes of podcasts & docuseries, 2017 - 2020

Ask an Art History Minor, blog, 2010 - 2013

Meaning in Art, blog, 2009 – 2011

PRESS

Looking back, do you wish you had taken the leap sooner? Jordan Garcia, Canvas Rebel, April 5, 2023

Stop Making Stuff No One Wants, Andrea Klunder, The Creative Imposter, April 2020

Growing Membership Sales with a Rock Solid Guarantee, Ward Sandler, Member Maker Podcast, Mar 2020

How to Make Art and Make A Living, Erika Hess, I Like Your Work Podcast, Feb 2020

Tulsans invited to participate in national arts research with Culture Hustlers, KJRH Tulsa, Dec 2019

Convirtió una caravana de los años 50 en una oficina sobre ruedas, Michelle Saavedra, Yahoo News Espanol, Nov 2018

Arts in Parks: Mobile Incubator to visit five Seattle park locations, Christina Hirsch, Parkways, Oct 2018

Touring, Teaching & Talking, Tony Barthel, Stressless Camping, Sep 2018

Lucas Spivey of the Mobile Incubator and Culture Hustlers podcast, Michael Shaw, The Conversation, June 2018

How To Make A Living As An Artist? Lucas Spivey’s Odyssey To Find The Answers, Greg Cook, Wonderland, March 2018

Art and Business as Friends, Not Foes, Anna Schuman, Boston Art Review, March 2018

Artists Earn a Living: Culture Hustlers at the BCA, Olivia Kiers, Big, Red & Shiny, March 2018

Art meets commerce at the BCA’s Mills Gallery, Cate McQuaid, Boston Globe, February 2018

Separated, Andrea Muraskin, NEXT New England Radio, March 2018

Spivey’s Mobile Incubator, Jeanette Mills, UW - Seattle, February 2018

Culture Hustlers: Artists Minding Their Business, Franklin Einspruch, Delicious Line, February 2018

Using MBA to Help Artists with Business Advice, Cameron McDonough, Endicott College, Dec 2017

Mobile Incubator Parks in Lower Allston, Becca DeGregorio, Allston Pudding, October 18, 2017

Mobile Incubator Makes Boston Home, Beth Treffeisen, Boston Sun, October 12, 2017

Lucas Spivey: Mobile Incubator for the Arts, Alexa Harrison, Take Magazine, August 27, 2017

A Van with a Business Plan, Jacqueline Houton, Improper Bostonian, June 30, 2017

Tieton Business Takes Shape with Three New Mosaic Signs, Tammy Ayer, Yakima Herald Republic, August 2015

Obama says true thing, art historians complain, Bendor Grosvenor, Art History News, February 2014

A Juror's Perspective, Allison Lynch, Newburyport Art Association Blog, January 2013

The Case of the Missing Santa, Zachary Nugent, New Hampshire Public Radio, December 2012

Spaces, Yule Heibel, North Shore Art*Throb, August 2012

Cape Ann Contemporary, Mary Bucci McCoy, Art New England, June issue, 2012

Turning a Profit, Jonathan Simcosky, North Shore Art*Throb, May 2012

Beverly gallery part of creative culture that benefits local economy, Kate Goodale, Boston Globe North, April 5, 2012

Notable Interdisciplinary Alumni, University of Washington - Seattle, School of Art Website, 2011

Beverly Cultural Council calls for grant applications, Rachel Bell, Gordon College News Service, Sep 12, 2011

Red Dot Report, Jeriah Hildwine and Stephanie Burke, Chicago Now, Aug 17, 2010

The Anti-Hummers, Jen Graves, The Stranger - Slog, August 27, 2009

Judging Art: Annual Juried Show Opens at the Jake, Lexi Krell, The Daily, February 26, 2008

Emerging Artists Work on Display at the 'Jake', Julian Martin, The Daily, February 28, 2007

CURATORIAL

Artists Minding Their Business, Ringling College of Art & Design, Oct 2019

Artists Minding Their Business, Boston Center for the Arts, Boston MA, Feb 2018

Live/Work, 17 Cox, Beverly MA, Mar 2014

Score for a Color Field, 17 Cox, Beverly MA, Dec 2013

I've Just Begun to Tell You, 17 Cox, Beverly MA, Aug 2013

Point of Sale: Methods of Vending Identity, 17 Cox, Beverly MA, May 2013

Pack of Wolves, 301 Gallery, Montserrat College of Art, Beverly MA, Dec 2012

Start Over, 17 Cox, Beverly MA, Aug 2012

You Are Here! The Viewer as Inconstant Media, 17 Cox, Beverly MA, Apr 2012

TO THE MoON, 17 Cox, Beverly MA, Jan 2012

Doubles, Kingston Gallery, Boston MA, Dec 2011

Cartography, Marblehead Arts Association, Marblehead MA, Nov 2011

I-cons:, First Parish Church, Beverly MA, Sep 2011

The Desert of the Black Cross, 17 Cox, Beverly MA, Aug 2011

Tangible Polygons, 17 Cox, Beverly MA, Jul 2011

Good Work(s), co-curated with Emily Pardoe, 17 Cox, Beverly MA, May 2011

POST NO BILLS, 17 Cox, Beverly MA, Mar 2011

Nova Dead Rats, Ver(a)rt Gallery, Seattle WA, Jun 2010

Horror Vacui, Ver(a)rt Gallery, Seattle WA, Nov 2009

The Y in your eYe, Ver(a)rt Gallery, Seattle WA, Oct 2009

MOBILE INCUBATOR INSTALLATIONS

AHHA, Tulsa OK, Dec 2019

PeerPalooza, Artist Inc, Kansas City MO, Jun 2019

Seattle Viaduct, Seattle Parks & Rec, Seattle WA, Feb 2019

Lake City Mini Park, Seattle Parks & Rec, Seattle WA, Dec 2018

Ballard Park, Seattle Parks & Rec, Seattle WA, Dec 2018

First Hill Park, Seattle Parks & Rec, Seattle WA, Nov 2018

Floware Park, Seattle Parks & Rec, Seattle WA, Nov 2018

Fellowship.Art, Gener8tor, Milwaukee WI, Oct 2018

Kinnektor Con, Appleton WI, Oct 2018

Farm/Art DTour, Reedsburg WI, Oct 2018

University of St. Thomas, Minneapolis MN, Oct 2018

UW - Oshkosh, Oshkosh WI, Oct 2018

ArtPrize, Grand Rapids MI, Sep 2018

Artists Test Lab, Detroit MI, Sep 2018

Bozarts F.A.R.M., Toledo OH, Aug 2018

Artists Thrive Summit, Berea KY, Aug 2018

Little 5 Points, Atlanta GA, July 2018

Starland District, Savannah GA, July 2018

Wynwood Walls, Miami FL, June 2018

FATVillage, Fort Lauderdale FL, Apr 2018

Florida International University, Art + Design Incubator, Miami FL, Mar 2018

Collins Park, Miami FL, Dec 2017

Ringling College of Art & Design, Sarasota FL, Nov 2017

Art in Odd Places: NOISE, Orlando FL, Nov 2017

Harvard University: Zone 3, Cambridge MA, Oct 2017

Boston Center for the Arts, Boston MA, Jul 2017

EXHIBITIONS

Collecting Art is a Slippery Slope, Wright Exhibition Space, Seattle WA, Feb 2012

Match: Artist Couples, Lincoln Arts Project, Waltham MA, Feb 2012

The Lucas Spivey Collection, Violet Strays, Feb 2012

10 x 10 x 10 Tieton, Mighty Tieton Warehouse Gallery, Tieton WA, Jul 2011

Life for Sale, The 3M, Seattle WA, Sep 2010

The Critical Eye, Jacob Lawrence Gallery, Seattle WA, juried by Robert Yoder, Aug 2009

aLIVe, Seward Park, Seattle WA, Aug 2009

Mother Daughter Father Son, Jacob Lawrence Gallery, Seattle WA, Jun 2009

Father and Son, Parnassus, Seattle WA, Dec 2008

Small + Flat, Jacob Lawrence Gallery, Seattle WA, juried by Michael Darling, Nov 2008

Non-fiction, Revolution, Seattle WA, May 2008

Self-portrait, Parnassus, Seattle WA, Apr 2008

Dirty, Youngstown Cultural Art Center, Seattle WA, Mar 2008

Demolition Bathroom, The Belmont, Seattle WA, Nov 2007

JUROR / PANELIST

Elevator Pitch Contest, UW Oshkosh, Juror, Oct 2018

art.fellowship, GENER8TOR, Juror, Sep 2018

Business of Art & Design Awards, Ringling College of Art & Design, Juror, Mar 2018

James W Ray Distinguished Artist Award, Artist Trust, Panelist, Aug 2015

WallaPOPUP, Juror, Mar 2015

Salem Art Box, Selection Panel, Apr 2013

Newburyport Art Association, Co-Juror, Jan 2013

Beverly Cultural Council, Grant Selection, Oct 2012

Salem Arts Festival, Selection Panel, Apr 2012

Beverly Cultural Council, Grant Selection, Oct 2011

Salem Arts Festival, Selection Panel, Apr 2011

Wing Luke Museum of the Asian American Experience, Selection Panel, Jan 2010

Ver(a)rt Gallery, Selection Panel, Nov 2009