Simon Lewis was born in Okehampton in Devon in 1945. He grew up in Germany and South Devon. He went to Art School at Bath Academy of Art in Corsham in the mid-sixties and was a Post-graduate student at the University of Reading in the early seventies, where he was the first Sculptor that the University admitted to its Master of Fine Arts Degree programme. He has lived and worked in London, Hull and most recently the Midlands. Since leaving University, he has taught in many different Art Schools but principally at Chelsea, Hull and the University of East London. In January 1995 he became Head of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts at the Nottingham Trent University and is currently the Dean of Nottingham Trent School of Art and Design.

As an undergraduate student in the 1960's, he was taught by a group later to become important British Artists, among them; Howard Hodgkin, Robyn Denny, Gillian Ayers, Henry Mundy, Michael Craig Martin. As a postgraduate at the University of Reading, his tutors included Terry Frost, Rita Donagh, Claude Rogers, Peter Kalkoff, and Tom Barratt. As a teacher he has worked at different times and in different colleges with, among others, George Fullard, Miles Murphy, Norman Blamey, Nigel Hall, Ron Haselden, Shelagh Cluett, Phylida Barlow, John Clarke, Clyde Hopkins, Guerda Roper, Geoff Dellow, Rob Ward, Marilyn Hallam, Helen Chadwick,, David Sweet, Kenneth Turnell, Graham Crowley, Matt Rugg, Ray Arnatt, Mike Punt, Tom Gillespie.

Throughout his career in education he has continued to practice as a sculptor and more recently as a painter. This continual practice has consistently informed and developed his teaching of both undergraduate and post-graduate students, as his development as an Artist has shadowed his development as an educator

He has exhibited widely and internationally since winning the International Prize (Travaux D'Equipe) at the Paris Biennale in 1996 and has continued to favour, juried and group shows with like minded Artists pursuing similar interests, to the pursuit of solo exhibitions. His career has (thankfully) insulated him from the need to pursue a living in the vagaries of the commercial art market. However, his work is included in many private collections and a few public ones.

As well as being an Artist and a teacher he has been involved in national developments in Art and Design Education as a member of the Conference for Higher Education in Art and Design (CHEAD), as a one time specialist advisor in Art and Design to the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA), as a trustee of the Art and Design Admissions Registry (ADAR). Subsequently elected to the University and Colleges Admissions Registry Art and Design Board. He is a founder member of the Group for Learning in Art and Design (GLAD) and now member of the Art, Design and Communications Learning and Teaching support networks staff development group. He is also a member of the Higher Education Art and Design Trust (HEAD Trust), a charity that gives financial support to a variety of initiatives that support Art and Design Students.

He has extensive connections with Artists and Educators in Japan and Korea and has visited many Art Universities in these countries as a guest speaker and invited Artist.