Peter Mangan

Texas has had an influence on Peter’s life as a sculptor.  Attending an early magnet school in Dallas and going to UT Austin at the end of the hippie era laid the foundation.  Being born in NYC, he chose San Francisco, CA as the next step.  The open-minded west coast proved a great place to expand creatively…leading to gallery representation across the USA and an outlet in Europe.  After 23 years of being back in Texas and actively exhibiting, Peter is at home in the Hill Country. Owning 14 acres of land in Blanco allows him the space and privacy to pursue his artistic ideas.  This includes taking in the local materials, landscape, plants, animals, and (of course) people. After acquiring a pickup truck and a flatbed trailer, his work has been shown all over this big state.  Highlights were exhibits at the State Capitol, the San Antonio Botanical Gardens, the Art Museum of South Texas, and many temporary (plus a few permanent) public art projects. 

Creating artwork enables Peter to use planning and intuition to make sculptures that communicate to others.  The struggle with ideas, materials, and tools is a challenge.  It is rewarding to bring something original into the world and see how people respond.  Metals and glass are his primary media.  The solid metal is an interesting contrast to the transparent glass. Old and new techniques are used, from laser-jet metal cutting to medieval glass painting methods.