The Benicia art community knows Mike Marcus, although many may still think of him as a precocious 10-year-old entrepreneur. Marcus began making art at the age of four, using scraps from his mom's woven textiles. had her studio and shop above Zellique glass studios on H Street, so her son grew up in glass blowing environment.
Marcus and Michaels son Nick would set up shop selling their wares. With a sharp eye for business, Marcus noticed that jewelry was the hottest selling item in his mom's shop so he began making jewelry at the age of 10. His first big show was Christmas at the Clocktower.
Although he's always loved glass, he had no interest in glass-blowing. “At the age of five, I remember sitting on Joe Morel's lap. He was giving me a glass-blowing lesson. I reached out and touched the hot rod and I never wanted to blow glass after that.”
Find out what's happening in Beniciawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
However, Marcus did take a class in glass fusing and received a scholarship towards his own kiln. After that, he set up shop making fused glass jewelry and became very well known in Benicia. Everyone has a Mike Marcus.
Despite his young age, Marcus was prominent in Benicia's art community over the years. He lived and worked in the arsenal district as a young adult and served as interim president of from Fall 2009 to Feb 2010.
Find out what's happening in Beniciawith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Now 27, Marcus recently returned from a five-month trek through Indonesia, Nepal and India where his sister Elizabeth was studying. “Nepal is amazing. I had a great time, I would not have done anything differently but I was ready to come home,” said Marcus. “The weirdest part was LAX.” Luxuries like flush toilets, air conditioning and not needing hand sanitizer seemed strange.”
Marcus is returning to his field of finance for renewable energy companies with the launch of Marcus & Associates Sustainability Advisors. He has resettled in San Francisco but is still a part of Benicia's art community.
He still makes fused glass jewelry but is branching off into wall pieces as well, using the fresh inspiration from his travels.
location: 940 Tyler #9A
