PROFESSIONAL ALLIANCE SPOTLIGHT
The Art of Glass, Inc.
Kathy Jordan, a longtime Partners’ Professional
Alliance member, opened her studio, the Art of
Glass, Inc., in 1987. Specializing in stained glass
conservation, restoration, and historic paint
replication, Kathy explains, “We have worked on
large cathedrals and small country churches. Our
craftsmanship, quality and dedication [are] given to
every project we work on. More importantly, we have
a well-documented reputation for projects that were
a success and completed on schedule.” Recently,
thanks to Kathy’s skills and expertise, the firm gained
something of a new specialty – that of miracle worker.
On the afternoon of October 23, 2004, a devastating
fire swept through Saint Bernard’s Episcopal Church,
an 1890s Gothic Revival building in Bernardsville, NJ.
When the smoke finally cleared it was plain that the
building was in ruins; shards of stained glass, which
exploded from the intensity of the fire’s heat, lay
scattered across the church lawn
Parish members quickly proceeded with restoration
plans, including the re-creation and repair of a sixfoot oculus window – the focal point of the church
– created for the congregation in 1898 by Clayton
and Bell, a prestigious English stained glass firm.
Kathy recalls, “The devastation was not isolated
within the walls of the sanctuary. I could see it on
their faces. Tears flowed freely when they spoke of
the great oculus window and what it meant to them.
The Art of Glass, Inc.
316 Media Station Road
Media, PA 19063
Office: (610) 891-7813
Fax: (610) 891-0150
They needed reassurance that I could recreate their
window. Their passion was my motivation.” In order
to restore the window, Kathy needed to pull together,
like a giant jigsaw puzzle, a multitude of pieces in
order to reconstruct the whole picture.
The first step was to obtain photographs of the
window, but the church didn’t have any in its property
records. Kathy tells the story, “A plea went out to the
congregation for photographs of the oculus window.
I received dozens of wedding photos of brides and
grooms with this tiny postage-sized window off in the
distance.” From the photos, Kathy could see what was
in the window, but she still lacked the color palette,
which would reveal itself from an unusual source.
After the fire, crews arrived to clean up and recover
whatever they could. Salvaging hundreds of glass
shards seemed impractical so they were gathered in a
box for disposal. Lead architect Annabelle RadcliffeTrenner, who thought Kathy might be able to use the
“trash,” stopped the crew from throwing away the
pieces of lead matrix and glass, and delivered them
instead in the cardboard box to the Art of Glass.
Kathy said that when she opened the box, her initial
reaction was “What have I promised?” However,
Left to right, below: The shards of glass and lead matrix pour out of the cardboard box they arrived in. Like a giant jigsaw
puzzle, the myriad pieces are fitted together to reassemble as much of the original window as possible. Kathy at work on her
light table, painting in details of the window; a drawing of the oculus can be seen on the left in the background.
Sacred Places • Spring 2010 • 20