04/29/2026
For his NYU Fellowship, Houston [Heights] artist Mark Nelson established and ran a public art project called GLASS freeGROUNDS (GfG), creating 36 workshops held over time at City of Houston parks where children and adult participants applied their own artistic talents on galvanized buckets provided by Nelson; creations in hand, these volunteers proceeded to collect broken glass from the park’s grounds. The workshops ultimately yielded 1,500 pounds of broken glass—later melted down at a marble making factory in Reno, Ohio, producing 180,000 cobalt blue “MARBLEOUS” marbles. For his sculpture, “MARBLEOUS GfG BUCKET CORRAL,” he included 80 of these buckets, inviting us to study each piece’s unique and whimsical design and reflect upon the issue of dangerous and illegal glass usage and litter in public spaces where families gather. Along the spines of the metal posts, the artist uses Scrabble pieces to spell the names of the parks where the workshops were held. Nelson earned his BFA at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York, and MFA at University of Houston.
Pratt Institute Lawndale Art Center Art League Houston Houston Heights Association Houston Public Media ArtHouston Magazine Heights Pages 📸 Kolanowski Studio
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