Marc Barreda was born in the highlands of Peru, on what was (at the time) the largest open-pit copper mine in the world. At a very young age, his Peruvian father and Jewish-American mother brought him and his brothers to the United States to escape oppressive conditions that were beginning to spiral out of control in Peru. Settling on a small farm in rural Vermont, Marc grew up fixing fences and old equipment, restoring old buildings and raising animals for food.

He attended Williams College to study biology and was a Howard Hughes Research Fellow at Dartmouth College. However, after graduating, Marc abandoned his micropipettes to explore the creative side of his brain. This exploration awoke muscle memory and led to an immersion in the worlds of sculpture and glass.

In 2000, Marc was employed for a glassblower down the road from the house he grew up in. He worked there for five years taking every opportunity to learn from him and others, filling all his free time with experiences as a student in intensive classes at The Studio, Corning Museum of Glass, New York, and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Maine, and as an assistant to various artists.

In 2005, Marc moved to Europe for four months to complete a residency and teach at the National Glass Foundation and Center near Segovia, Spain, and to help in the development of the programs and facilities at Vrij Glas in Saandam, Netherlands. On New Year’s Day, 2006, he moved back to the United States to begin working with Michael Schunke at Nine Iron Studios. Marc continues to make and show works in glass and mixed media sculpture as well as maintain a presence at Vrij Glas and at Salem Art Works, an artist workspace project that he has been helping to develop in Salem, NY.  Any leftover time is spent taking care of the farm in Vermont.