[4][5] Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, Leavitt was influenced by the wood-craft and engineering of Native American, Scandinavian, and industrial craft in the region.

"[7] He attended The Pratt Institute in New York in 1996–97,[6] and completed a self-designed Bachelor of Arts at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA in 2001.

(Thrillist.com[9]) From 1998 to 2004 Leavitt executed a series of conceptual art pieces like "Push Button Performer" (2001–2004) with cabaret-style audience confrontations in public.

The first two units, made from salvaged pallet wood and recycled materials, served Seattle area tent cities for 3 years to follow.

"As the homeless faced the threat of street sweeps during WTO, Leavitt's creations were used as a 'honeymoon sweet' [sic] for one couple, and as a headquarters for the Seattle Housing and Resource Effort (SHARE).

(Handcrafted.com[21]) Once showing famous celebrity couples from modern history and same-sex marriage in gallery exhibitions, "the cake toppers are playful with a message... a look at love in the spotlight."

[23] Included in the series were figures such as Kim Jong Il and Charles Manson depicted as tea pots and the British nostalgia collectibles known as Toby mugs.

[32][33][34][35][36] "More of a good-natured joke than a stern commentary on the commodification of art" (David Stoesz, Seattle Weekly[32]), Leavitt's biographic series depicts subjects in an array of genres though most often contemporary visual artists.

(Seattle Magazine[34]) "When it comes to art icons, Michael Leavitt has a deep set of beliefs about who deserves a reserved parking space in the annals of history."

The 'enemy' of the "Art Army", "The Man", included Martha Stewart, Britney Spears and the John Tesh, Michael Bolton, Kenny G "3-Headed Monster".

"The project is clearly aligned against the forces of imperialism and cultural suckiness, but Leavitt makes his points with a light touch, being too high-spirited and incorrigibly silly to get bogged down in another dreary leftist critique."

(David Stoesz, Seattle Weekly[33]) "Leavitt succeeds in art's most important function — to not only help us recognize and articulate our values, but participate in a dialog that validates them as well.

[44] Leavitt also created prototypes for Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump dolls and Bernie Sanders action figures for the same toy company in 2015 and 2016.

[45][46] Leavitt and FCTRY have since collaborated with the production of Elizabeth Warren, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Robert Mueller and other figures.

With a large wood cross and tentacles made of stars and stripes, the 2008 commentary was designed to counter-act negative stereotypes of the candidate during his first Presidential campaign.

[54] Leavitt's one-off hand-sculpted wood and clay "mash ups"[55] featured celebrities, politicians, humanitarians and other famous non-fictional personalities crossed with fictional and infamous sci-fi characters.

With "Empire Peaks", Leavitt is "juxtaposing the classic archetypal roles found in Yoda, Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, and the rest of the famed cast with pop-culture personas."

(Laughing Squid[56]) "By turning well known figures such as Kim Jong Il, Che Guevara, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama, Michael Jackson and Steve Jobs into consumer products based on the popular franchise, Leavitt hopes to explore such themes as idol worship, our coveting of mass-produced collectibles and our societies need for heroes, rebels, villains and tyrants."

(Zimbio[60]) "Like many kids who were raised in the late '70s and early '80s, the characters of Star Wars exist in a place in Leavitt's mind that is usually reserved for real-life figures," says Fast Company Magazine,[61] "It is this mental distinction between beloved fictional characters who feel real and real-life people who feel fictional that Leavitt explores in his latest project, Empire Peaks."

[63] "King Cuts" furthered the central themes in Leavitt's art of exposing taste-makers behind the scenes, and work consuming a creator's body.

"(Paste Magazine[68]) In Leavitt's ongoing series of cardboard shoes and "Hip Hopjects", to-scale editions of cultural ephemera are made with recycled materials.

Items such as a "ghetto blaster", baseball hat, and soccer ball have been rendered in actual scale and size with reconstituted cardboard and brown paper bag.

(Cyanatrendland.com[79]) Providing an educational aid and source material in 2021, Leavitt started publishing a series of free tutorials[80] to format his cardboard shoes as a do-it-yourself craft project for DIY makers and classrooms.

[81] Leavitt says, "I might dabble in satire of other essentials in a bad economy: eye glasses, winter coats, food items… but shoes are so intimately linked to our visual culture.

(Suite101.com[83]) "Trash Talking", Leavitt's 2024 series of works, feature objects and shoes made from alternate recycled material specifically chosen for its sociopolitical symbolism.

Yet, I have to admit, there’s a secret part of me wants to wear a 'real' pair of lego Adidas and wonders what Nike-branded Chinese takeout food would taste like.

There is a lot of humor here, but look closely and the story gets deeper and darker... An AR-15 made from Disney product boxes marks the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Florida.

His ability to create and re-create unique pieces of work has helped modern art to be less chaotic, less elitist, and more affordable for the common people.

(Obscura Magazine[97]) "Leavitt has a raw talent for capturing prominent artists, musicians and entertainers in their elements and characterizing them into brilliant sculptures."

(The Huffington Post[99]) "The bravest move in art's to rebel against classical training to follow a low-culture muse- as with Marcel Duchamp's urinal...