In the increasingly ambitious local art world, the notion of "world class" has become a "Wizard of Oz" mantra -- say it enough times and it will come true.

Well, this month, the Portland art world highlights a truly world-class artist whose stature requires no clicking of the heels: Richard Marquis, the venerated sculptor who has an exhibit of new glasswork at The Bullseye Gallery.

In the 1960s, Marquis was one of the first Americans to learn the revered glass-blowing techniques taught at the Venini glass factory in Murano, Italy. When he finished his Fulbright Fellowship and returned to the U.S., Marquis started to share that knowledge with other artists, including nascent art students.
read more at oregonlive.com

Gabriel Manca, "To Rise or Raise in the Air in Apparent Defiance of Gravity"...