KASOTA — Mark Hall’s shop in Kasota is a creative mindfield. Look in any direction, and you’re likely to see something that has sparked his imagination or is the result of such a spark brought to life in his handmade kiln or other piece of equipment.
Although he said he has retired from the glasswork that first turned the artistic spotlight in his direction, pieces abound on his work bench, hanging on the walls and in his little display areas. Now, however, his focus is on sculptures.
Cactus Flower, the first piece on this year’s Mankato CityArt Sculpture Tour, perched on a slab of limestone in front of Pub 500 on South Front Street, is the latest piece on display going all the way back to at least 2018 with his Avenue Dream Catcher. He also has had Sprout and Shard (2019), Harmony (2020), Abundance (2021), Nibbles (2022) and Nurturing (2024). Nibbles in 2023 was Best in Show for other materials.
A piece he has entered for CityArt 2026 sits in his side yard, next to the inspiration piece created with everyday items from his parents’ home. He hopes the white-framed work, which like his other sculptures is constructed for 3-D viewing, with distorted and combined glass pieces, will keep his Mankato selection streak alive.
“Last year I had 11 pieces in like eight or nine cities,” Hall said. “So it’s across the Midwest.” He might have had more, he said, except for the logistics of transporting sculptures from one place to another, often happening on one weekend.
“All of a sudden there’ll be three or four different cities and you’ve got to go to within a week. It makes it a problem if you have to take the sculpture down and put it on a trailer,” he said. In addition, sometimes there is cleaning, repairing or polishing that needs to be done.
His sculpture work all started with a guy named Al Belleveau in Bemidji. Hall had seen a posting for their sculpture walk and was accepted there.
“And when I went up there, Al said to me, ‘You know, Mark, you got to come and pick this up in the spring. Why don’t you have another one made’ (to include for the next year)?’ … So, that’s what happened.”
With just three months to complete another sculpture, he said the pressure was on, but he saw it as being doable. And that planted the seed to get a sculpture in the Sioux Falls, South Dakota, walk, which he called “the cream of the crop.”
Hall, 72, tries to make meaningful sculptures, pieces that make people stop and think. At the same time, however, he likes to reuse materials that contribute to his inspiration without contributing to his carbon footprint.
“Going three dimensions was really a challenge for me. I’ve been working all my life, basically, in 2-D stained glass windows,” he said. “So, the thought of coming at your piece from 90 degrees. You can’t think flat anymore, so you have to think about it from all directions.”
He got some unexpected help for Cactus Flower. A mother came into his quaint shop with her son, and they asked if he could be a mentor for the boy. He would get the young man for 120 hours, to do anything that was needed. He got that, and more.
Cactus Flower is built around a propane tank. Using pencils and chalk, Hall marked where cuts into the tank were needed and handed it over.
“He took it to school and used the plasma cutter to cut those thorns. You go boop, boop, boop, boop; and you keep doing that all the way (around),” he said. “He did a great job. They’re real nice and clean, so then you can heat it up and pound it out with a hammer.”
Sculptures can be tedious to make, so having someone else to do that job was helpful. That continued onto the 240 glass balls that make up the sculpture, he said.
“That is fun when you force yourself to do that. You figure out how to make the right colors that you want, and you get yourself on a schedule where you can go ahead and blow glass every day. And then he did that, too,” said Hall, his voice rising to indicate the child-like fun he still gets from creating.
Did the work with Hall lead to the next colorful sculptor?
“No, he wants to be a butcher. But, you know, it opened his eyes a bit,” he laughed.