Townsend studied art at the Rhode Island School of Design and, since the late 1980s, has built a career spanning more than three decades, focused on collaborative, ephemeral art interventions, particularly tape art, to transform public spaces.

Associated with the Secret Mall Apartment project, a clandestine installation created inside a shopping mall in Providence, Rhode Island.

Townsend offers a fresh perspective on art as a force for connection and collaboration. Through his work, he shows audiences how to tap into their own creativity, work within constraints, and discover unexpected and surprising solutions to the things they want to change.