Vitae

Mark Roy Bleshenski
mark@bleshenski.com :: www.bleshenski.com :: facebook.com/mbleshenski

Studio artist working in a variety of mediums including glass, wood and mixed media. Independent study of techniques in glass fusing and casting, flameworking. Current work focuses on re-purposing of discarded bottles into multi-media sculpture.

Web and Social Media Sites

Web Site - www.bleshenski.com
LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/mark-bleshenski-4b765440
Facebook - www.facebook.com/mbleshenski
Michigan Stained Glass Census - www.michiganstainedglass.org

Awards

2023 - 50 Artists of the Great Lakes Bay Region Exhibition - Studio 23, Bay City, MI, "Entanglement", Award of Merit
2022 - NEA Big Read: Great Lakes Bay Region Grant Recipient based on the book 'The House of Mango Street' by Sandra Cisneros - "The Four Skinny Trees" Installation at The Jefferson Project Sculpture Park in Bay City.
2018 - Studio 23 All-State Exhibition - Studio 23, Bay City, Michigan, Artwork: "Penny Jar", Juror's Award for 3D, Juror: Nick Reszetar
2016 - East Side Art Show - Anton Art Center, St. Claire Shores, Michigan, Artwork: "Plumbum", Honorable Mention
2016 - ArtPrize - Fountain Street Church Venue - "Plumbum", Juror's Special Merit Award
2016 - Art Walk Central - Art Reach of Mid-Michigan; Mt Pleasant, Michigan; Helios Art Gallery, Artwork: "Plumbum", Jurors Top 10 List
2014 - ArtPrize 6 - Fountain Street Church, "Penny Jar, Rebel, and Tweet don't Chirp" Juror's shortlist for top 5 venues
1995 - Modern Liturgy Magazine, Vol 2, No 9, Visual Art Awards honorable mention

Juried Exhibitions

2023 - Art Around the City - Studio 23, Bay City, MI, "Glory Daze" (Juried)
2023 - 50 Artists of the Great Lakes Bay Region Exhibition - Studio 23, Bay City, MI, "Entanglement", Award of Merit
2022 - MI All State Exhibition - Studio 23, Bay City, MI, "Time Rip Tide" (Juried)
2021 - RBJSE (Regional Biennial Juried Sculpture Exhibition) - Marshall Fredericks Sculpture Museum; Saginaw Valley State University; Saginaw, Michigan, Artwork: "Maize", Juried
2020 - Our Changing Climate Exhibition - "Climate Changer" Gallery show converted to an online show because of COVID-19, Huron Valley Council for the Arts (juried)
2019 - 50 Artists of the Great Lakes Bay Region. "Tentorium Botanica", "Climate Changer" (Juried)
2019 - State of the Arts Exhibition, Saginaw Township Art in Public Places, "Vessels 1" (Juried)
2019 - Light - Art in the Loft - "Flos Arc Archa 1", "Flos Arc Archa 2", and "Flos Arc Archa 3" (Juried)
2018 - Regional Biennial Juried Sculpture Exhibition; Marshall Fredericks Sculpture Museum; Saginaw Valley State University; Saginaw, Michigan, Artwork: "Seaform" (Juried)
2017 - Show Me The Money, Huron Valley Arts Council, Highland, Michigan "Penny Jar" (Juried)
2016 - Regional Biennial Juried Sculpture Exhibition; Marshall Fredericks Sculpture Museum; Saginaw Valley State University; Saginaw, Michigan, Artwork: "Tweet Don't Chirp" (Juried)
2016 - Real American (Juried), Ann Arbor Art Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan, "Penny Jar"
2016 - Greater Michigan Art Exhibition (Juried), Midland Center for the Arts, "Seaform"

Other Selected Exhibitions

2024 - ArtPrize - Wisemen Distillery/Rosa Parks Circle, Grand Rapids, MI "Like Sculpture"
2024 - ArtWalk - ArtReach of Mid Michigan, Mt Pleasant, MI, "Like Sculpture"
2022 - ArtWalk - CMU University Art Gallery, Mt Pleasant, MI, "Monster Nature"
2021 - Mark Bleshenski Solo Show - Grace College, Warsaw, Indiana; Selected works.
2021 - Land to Water Exhibition - "Plumbum" (Invitation)
2021 - Painters and Potters - Studio 23/The Arts Center; Selected works
2019 - Painters and Potters - Studio 23/The Arts Center; Selected works
2019 - ArtWalk - Central Michigan University Art Gallery - "Tentorium Botanica" - CMU University Art Gallery.
2018 - ArtPrize - "Climate Changer"
2018 - An Exploration of Social Media Art Show, Group Show, Cerasus Studio, Grand Rapids, Michigan "Tweet don't Chirp" (Invitation)
2017 - PostPrize 2017 (Invitational), Frames Unlimited, Grand Rapids, Michigan "Seaform"
2017 - ArtPrize 2017, Keeler Gallery, Fountain Street Church, "Seaform", Grand Rapids, Michigan
2017 - Art Walk Central, CMU University Gallery, "Seaform", Mt Pleasant, Michigan "Seaform"
2016 - 'Re: Formation' (Invitational), Gallery Project, Ann Arbor Art Center, Artwork: "Plumbum", Reviews: See Publications. (Invitation)
2016 - 'Re: Formation' (Invitational), Gallery Project, Toledo, OH, Artwork: "Plumbum", Reviews: See Publications.
2016 - ArtPrize, Grand Rapids, Michigan, "Plumbum"
2015 - ArtPrize 7, Venue: Fountain Street Church, "Inverse Effect"
Glass Show, The Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario
The Detroit Artists Market, Detroit Michigan
1980's - Michigan Glass Month Show participant for several exhibits
1987 - Corning Museum of Glass - SGAA International Competition and Exhibition, Corning New York, "Silicone Chip"
1987 - Image/Light and Structure - http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/35238751/image-light-structure-87-show

Selected Bibliography

2023 - Subject in Doctoral Dissertation (I am honored that my work became the inspiration for the topic of this dissertation - Introduction Page 2) - The Caretaker: Bearing Witness in Public Art an Examination of the Role of Contemporary Artists Addressing the Effects of Environmental Injustice within Michigan Communities
Creator: Kim M. Reiff, IDSVA
https://digitalmaine.com/academic/46/
2019 - MURZE Magazine: 'Assemblage' article
2019, April - MURZE Magazine: 'Climate Action' article
2018 - MFSM Regional Biennial Juried Sculpture Exhibit - (Marshall Frederick's Regional Biennial Juried Sculpture Exhibition)
https://youtu.be/u8FBvqzFen8
2018, September - The Valley Vanguard - Biennial juried exhibit showcases local artists - (Marshall Frederick's Regional Biennial Juried Sculpture Exhibition)
http://www.valleyvanguardonline.com/biennial-juried-exhibit-showcases-local-artists/
2016 - Subject of Masters Thesis - RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL FUNCTION OF THE ARTISTIC CREATIVE PROCESS by Michelle Lucchesi -
2016 - ArtPrize Top 100 public favorites: Installation entries - Mlive, September 27, 2016
http://www.mlive.com/artprize/index.ssf/2016/09/6_shares_artprize_2016_top_100.html
2016 - Hyperallergic.com, After Flint Water Crisis, Police Murders, and More, Midwestern Artists Get Mad - Mlive, August 24, 2016
"The grief, anger, and betrayal felt over the situation in Flint, articulated by artists throughout the region and the nation, is expressed in Re:Formation through a multitude of media... and, arrestingly, in "Plumbum," a large-scale installation by Bay City artist Mark Bleshenski. The piece, which dominates the center of the gallery floor, is a collection of water samples from Flint, tagged with locational data and displayed in myriad oddly warped vessels atop raw wooden stools of varying heights."
https://hyperallergic.com/317058/after-flint-water-crisis-police-murders-and-more-midwestern-artists-get-mad/
2016 - How Midwestern Artists Push Back, React, repair, and 'RE: Formation', by Athena Cocoves - Toledo City Paper, August 2016
"Some artists take time to meditate on the issues- and others use the visibility of the art object to bring awareness to unseen problems- like Mark Bleshenski, from Bay City, MI, who brought over 60 jugs of contaminated water from Flint for his installation titled 'Plumbum'."
http://www.toledocitypaper.com/August-Issue-1-2016/How-Midwestern-Artists-Push-Back/#Arts & Entertainment
2016 - Gallery Project drops a politically-loaded art-bomb for their fourth annual exhibition. By Sarah Rose Sharp - Detroit Art Review, August 8, 2016
"The largest piece in the show is a sprawling installation by Mark Bleshenski (Bay City, MI), Plumbum, located in the middle of the showroom floor. The installation, which draws its name from the Latin word for lead (because lead was used in plumbing in ancient times), collects 100 water samples from Flint faucets into various receptacles, and arranges them into clusters atop two groups of meticulously crafted wooden stools of various heights. The craftsmanship and object repetition is aesthetically engaging – it is a carefully assembled collection, with many forms and colors present – and even playful, as some of the vessels are warped into unexpected shapes and some of the liquids contained within are bright Kool-Aid colors. It is only as one draws near enough to see the data tracked on each vessel that the scene shifts from madcap collection to mad science."
http://detroitartreview.com/2016/08/gallery-project-reformation-toledo/
2016 - RE: Formation Part 1, by K.A. Letts - Rust Belt Arts, August 8, 2016
https://rustbeltarts.com/2016/08/08/re-formation-part-1/
'2016 - Re: Formation' addresses social issues through art, by Roberta Gedert - The Blade, August 4, 2016
"The Flint water crisis - where the government failed to properly monitor the water supply from the river, resulting in thousands of citizens being exposed to high lead levels - is a resounding theme in the gallery, including a large display of glass jars and bottles filled with water from Flint faucets, an essay about water's involvement in every aspect of life by artist Mark Bleshenski. Manipulated and distorted bottles represent the effects of the lead's toxicity; data from lead measurements taken from homes there are labeled across some of the bottles as a reminder to the viewer of the seriousness of the breach."
http://www.toledoblade.com/Art/2016/08/04/Re-Formation-addresses-social-issues-through-art-Exhibit-captures-mood-mobilization-of-the-disempowered.html
Corning Museum of Glass Library Collection - Rakow Research Library - bleshenski (exlibrisgroup.com)

Other

MLIVE: 'Presidential portrait' and other politically charged ArtPrize 2018 entries
https://www.mlive.com/expo/news/erry-2018/09/d884bc641e4913/presidential-portrait-and-othe.html#incart_sms
Midland Daily News: Studio 23 hosts all-state juried show
https://www.ourmidland.com/lifestyles/article/Studio-23-hosts-all-state-juried-show-13225760.php
The ArtPrize Curmudgeon's 20 must-not-see entries in the top 100 - Mlive, October 1, 2016
http://www.mlive.com/artprize/index.ssf/2016/10/the_artprize_curmudgeons_20_mu.html
19 Political Entries At Art Prize 2016 - Mlive, September 28, 2016
http://www.mlive.com/artprize/index.ssf/2016/09/artprize_eight_gets_politcal.html
2015 - MLive Article, 2015 -
http://www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2015/09/two_bay_city_residents_compete.html
2015 - MLive Article, 2015 -
http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/015/09/your_guide_to_artprize_entries.html#9
2014 - MLive Article, 2014 -
http://photos.mlive.com/baycitytimes/2014/09/mark_bleshenski.html
2014 - MLive Article, 2014 -
http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/bay-city/index.ssf/2014/09/bay_county_artists_featured_at.html
1987-Vol 2, No 6 - Glass Art Magazine, Designing dazzling Facet Glass by Kathleen H. Jones (Cover photo and Feature article)
1989 - Professional Stained Glass v. 9, no. 8, Aug. 1989, pp. 6-11, "The dalle de verre Work of Mark Bleshenski" by David M. Maylen III (ref: Corning Museum of Glass reference to Stained Glass Quarterly Magazine Article - www.cmog.org)

Selected Professional Experience

2023 - Williamsport Artist Residency. Concentrated work in digital media manipulating my photo images.
2023 - Subject of Doctoral thesis and inspiration for the topic of the thesis. https://digitalmaine.com/academic/46/
2018 - Art show juror, Studio 23
2016 - Guest speaker for breakout session at Kaleidoscope: Reflect. Recharge. Reimagine. Conference at Kellogg Center, Michigan State University
2016 - Selected as one of a group of artists in various disciplines for a Master's Thesis on The Artistic Creative Process, by a graduate student at Central Michigan University
1981-2008 - Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Markroy Studio, Pinconning, Michigan. Designed and built stained glass windows for churches, businesses and homes throughout Michigan using leaded glass, Faceted glass and cast glass. Sizes ranged from small works to hundreds of square feet. Did independent experimentation with fused glass and cast glass autonomous art pieces.

Education

1980 to Present - Autodidactic Studies and Experimentation with glass, wood, metal and mixed media as an art medium.
1983 - Glass casting classes at Center for Creative Studies, Detroit, Michigan
1979 - Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, BA, Human Environment and Design.
1978 - University of London, London, England, Decorative Arts and Architecture Program
1973 - 1976 - Apprenticed with Roy Diamond Smith, Diamond Art Glass Studio, Pinconning, Assisting with production of stained glass windows.