Martin Munson
BIO
Education
1987-90 - M.F.A. Sculpture, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale Illinois
1982-86 - B.A., Sculpture, Ceramics and Metal, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA
- Graduate with Distinction
1982 - Tuition Scholarship, Academy of Art, San Francisco, CA
1981 - A.A., College of Marin, Kentfield, CA
Professional Associations
1992 Member Sonoma Museum of Visual Art.
1995-present Member of the Sonoma Arts Guild, Sonoma, CA
1998 Member of the Sonoma Valley Arts Alliance, Sonoma, CA
1995-present Member of the California Blacksmith Association
1990-present Sculptor-Designer @ MUNSON DESIGN
Teaching appointments
Sonoma Valley Unified School district. Kinetics, art and science curriculum
Sonoma Community Center, ceramic sculpture
Sonoma Valley Museum, kinetic Sculpture.
Demonstrator, California Blacksmith Association.
Munson Design
19638 Eighth St. East
Sonoma, Ca. 95476
E-mail: mrt@vom.com
martinmunson.com
707-235-0524
The Interview:
Martin Munson, February 2026
Interview conducted and edited by Nancy Martin
NJM: Are there artists in your family or are you the first?
MM: I was raised in a family of Artists. My Mother devoted her career to teaching music. She gave me an appreciation for all kinds of music. I studied several instruments over the years. My Father dedicated his career educating kids in the industrial arts. The creative spirit was running through our house all the time. I have four brothers who all have the creative gene and are on their own artistic journey.
NJM: Did it take you time to share your work with the world?
MM: In high school, I entered my work in county fairs and exhibitions. I entered pieces into the Marin County Fair and earned 1st place in my class. That sculpture went on to the Sacramento state fair. Since then, I have been in many competitive exhibitions and have received several awards and commissions.
I then went to Sonoma State University and graduated in 1985 with a BFA in studio art. I put together an exhibition after graduation and sales from that exhibition helped move me to Graduate school at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale Illinois. On completion of my MFA in 1990 I held my graduate thesis show, selling enough work from that exhibition to return to California when I opened my studio in 1995.
I enjoy creating sculpture on commission. I'm encouraged to be creative and inventive. I also enjoy working with and getting to know my clients, their aesthetics and the style of their living environment where the sculpture will live.
NJM: Who has inspired your art and creativity?
MM: In my formative years, my drawings were influenced by cartoonists Rube Goldberg and Dr. Seuss. In my later artistic pursuits, I was inspired by the Northern California, Funk movement. The Di Rosa Preserve has displayed many of my favorites sculptors. Some of the artists who have inspired my creativity are: Peter Volkus, Stephen DeStabler and Richard Shaw and Robert Hudson. Two of my favorite metal sculptors are Mark Di Suvero and Alexander Calder, both are monumental, kinetic artists.
NJM: What makes something art?
MM: I believe that art is a personal statement. A visual vocabulary that should be a profound idea, rendered profoundly. Both fine art and craft should emulate personal identity of the artist and the material process and journey.
NJM: Does your work carry a message?
MM: My sculptures are intended to be environmental interpretive “tools” that embody the struggle between man and nature. They are kinetic and respond to the immediate environment as if to imply a functional purpose. The experience of technology and organic reclamation is visible in my sculptures and creates contrasts. The contrast exists between natural and man-made forms. Parts of my work appear organically reclaimed while other images look technologically processed. I respond to the struggle between the powers of nature; nature’s endurance and slow reclamation versus man’s ability and inability to control and manipulate this process. My work addresses the success and failure of man’s technological prowess versus Mother Nature’s continuances.
NJM: Do you consciously evolve your work or does serendipity happen?
MM: My creative process comes from collecting and editing interesting textured materials. I repurpose and recycle industrial treasure to create form and content. It is important for me to manipulate the metal beyond its original intent and purpose. This shows the hand of the artist and the process used to tell the story.
*njm: People have often come into the Arts Guild and talked with me about how much they love the fabulous metal sculpture pieces they have commissioned Marty to create for them, both inside and outside their homes.
Interview conducted and edited by Nancy Martin http://nancyjmartinauthor.com/