Seattle Glass Artist to Lecture, Work at ISU Glass House

Seattle-based mixed-media sculptor Mark Zirpel will be a guest artist in the Illinois State University School of Art next week, beginning with a noon lecture on Tuesday, Feb. 5, in the University Galleries.

Admission is free and open to the public.

Zirpel will work Tuesday through Friday with art students and faculty in the Glass House, located just west of the Main and Willow street intersection in Normal. 

A Portland, Ore., native who received a BFA degree from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute, Zirpel uses art to investigate and learn about the world, often after developing his own new methods.  He is not a glass artist, per se, but uses glass and other materials in his kinetic mixed-media pieces.  He has had many solo exhibitions on the West Coast and his work is in many corporate collections. His recent focus is related to the human body, its organs, function and eventual failure.