Michael Lee Dart was born on February 1, 1977. He is the youngest of the four children of Ronnie Joe and Emma Sue (Bean) Dart. He is an award winning Cherokee artist specializing in the art of contemporary Cherokee Double Wall Basketry. His baskets have placed in several shows throughout northeastern Oklahoma including the 1st Annual Cherokee National Holiday Art Show in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, The Art Under the Oaks Art Show at the Five Tribes Museum in Muskogee, Oklahom and the 2007 Trail of Tears Art Show and Sale at the Cherokee Heritage Center in Tahlequah, Oklahoma which is one of the largest Native American art shows in the region. His art is quickly becoming recognized and appreciated by many collectors and institutions within the Native American art circle.

Mike learned the art of Basketry in 1992 from master Cherokee weaver, Shawna Morton-Cain who was designated a Living Treasure of the Cherokee Nation in 2006 for her knowledge and skill in the art of Cherokee basketry. However he says that his interest in basketry began during childhood when he would watch his grandmother, the late Pauline Dart weave baskets and build woven furniture our of willow and other materials native to the land around her home.

Mike's baskets are generally classified as "contemporary" because his primary mediums are contemporary materials such as rattan reed and RIT Fabric and other aniline dyes. However he does weave with natural materials such as honeysuckle and buckbrush. But he says that he will always weave with contemporary materials because it allows him to express himself better artistically, and there are certain colors he likes to use that you not obtain from natural materials, at least to his knowledge.