Preview: Saturday, July 9, 2005 10:00 am - 5:30 pm

Opening Reception: Sunday, July 10, 2005 1:00 - 5:00 pm

Artist in attendence; Elizabeth Ely, harpist

Exhibition continues until July 30, 2005

Mel Munsen was born in San Diego in 1946. He received his Bachelor of Science in graphic design from Portland State in 1969 followed by 6 months of graduate work in glassblowing. He immigrated to Canada in 1970 where his career in glass began in glass blowing.

An admiration and curiosity about the work of Italy's mid-20th century glass artists Carlo Scarpa and Alfredo Barbini has led to Mel Munsen's technically groundbreaking and innovative glass work. Unlike his predecessors, whose work was done at the furnace and glory hole, his fusing and shaping process is completed entirely in kilns. One of Canada's premier glass artists, Mel Munsen likens his work to a highly patterned plane reluctantly coaxed into often complex and delicate vessel forms.

Munsen's work can be found in selected public collections. Due to the difficulty and time necessary in creating his pieces, no two pieces are the same and those who have collected his work know they have something special.