Mark Kobasz

artist, educator

Mark Kobasz is an artist/educator who creates beauty and engages with the community. Throughout 40 years of art-making, he has worked with wood, metal, printmaking, and glass in all forms. His work is inspired by minimalism and object sentimentality, as well as the animism of folk art and architecture. Cities and buildings have appeared in many ways: as pedestals for futuristic animals, cast icons of another world, and layered urbanscapes. Architectural imagery remains an important catalyst, reflecting his continued passion for urbanism, architecture, and ladders.

Glass and architecture have been a way for Mark to engage with the public as well. He was an Artist-in-Residence with the Pennsylvania State Council on the Arts, and has collaborated with different communities, including at theaters, museums, schools, and at WheatonArts, to create permanent and temporary public artworks. These architectural glass-based pieces are often interdisciplinary, linking local history, personal narratives, and social issues. They reference his studio work as well, using glass and other sculptural materials and processes. 

As a teacher, his enthusiasm is contagious, infecting his students of all ages. from Tyler School of Art, Pilchuck Glass School, Tulane University, Sheridan College of Applied Art in Ontario, Hands on Glass in Corning, and for over 20 years, at Springfield Township High School in Erdenheim, PA, where he was the K-12 supervisor for 10 years.

background

Mark has a BFA from Tyler School of Art, and an MAT from University of the Arts. He has three fellowships from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, an Artist As Catalyst 2000 grant from the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, and more. Recently he was featured in Hyperallergic, “A view from the Easel.” His work is in the collections of the Corning Museum of Glass, the Arco Chemical Company, Deloitte Touche Corporation, Merck Corporation, The Wustum Museum of Fine Art, and many private collections.