Nancy Blair, left, demonstrates how to create a mold in sand during her residency in Taiwan.

Nancy Blair, a Melbourne Beach-based artist and adjunct instructor in Florida Tech Online, spent nine months in Taiwan last year with the Dream Community Cultural Foundation Program.

Serving as a cultural exchange artist in residence, Blair taught art and design students from Yuan Ze University and created a “DreamScape—Healing Garden” on the residential premises of the Dream Community Foundation.

Blair and her team of glass artists, architects and technicians turned a pile of rubble into a contemplative space in the middle of urban Taipei chaos. She designed a glass bamboo forest and a water feature that included large meditation stones, a bridge and a cascading waterfall over black granite.

An accomplished glass artist who counts Elton John among her customers, Blair is also a published author with five books to her credit, including her most recent, Thank You, Your Opinion Means Nothing To Me, a memoir published by HarperCollins.