Painter, printmaker, ceramicist, and sculptor David Middlebrook was born in Jackson, Michigan in 1944. He graduated with a B.A. in fine art from Albion College, MI, and went on to earn his M.F.A from the University of Iowa in 1970. He began teaching at San Jose State University, CA in 1974, and moved to Los Gatos, where he founded his studio.

Middlebrook exhibited and taught throughout the U.S. and abroad. Residencies in the U.S. include Mills College (Oakland, CA); Notre Dame University (IN); and Ohio State (OH). Abroad, he taught in 1980 at the Darwin Community College (now Charles Darwin University) in Australia, and at the University of Natal in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, in 1982. Additionally, beginning in the mid 1960s, he traveled to the noted sculptor's cooperative Bottega Versilliese in Pietra Santa, Italy, where he established a long-term residency with the stone sculpture workshop that continues to this day.

Middlebrook is currently the Associate Director of Fine Arts at SJSU. In addition to individual pieces, he has executed several public works both personally and in collaboration with architects, designers, and contractors.