President’s Message:
The Value of SGAA Membership
If someone were to ask you why you are (or are not) a member of the Stained Glass Association of America,
what would you say?
Having been a member of the SGAA since 1990, my husband (Fred Shea) and I have reflected on this
question several times, and the answer always points back to the reason we joined the SGAA in the
first place and the reason that our studio is still a member.
Throughout the 1980s, we read The Stained Glass Quarterly. Both of us were moved to become
members of the SGAA after reading the President’s Message in the Fall 1988 issue, where Walter
Judson said:
“The Stained Glass Association of America sets the standards and
goals for the industry in North America. Newly developing studios and
artists throughout this and other countries look to us for leadership.
We shall give leadership insofar as we, as individual members, are
willing to devote time and talent to the organization.”
In 1988, we were one of the many newly developing studios who looked to the Stained Glass Association of America and its members for
leadership, industry standards, and goals for our company to aspire to follow and achieve. Our application for Accredited Membership was
approved in 1990, and we have been an Accredited Member since that time. (This level is now called the Accredited Professional Member.)
As a developing stained glass restoration studio:
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we wanted to tap into the vast knowledge of the SGAA and its members.
we wanted to enhance our reputation and increase our credibility through accreditation and certification.
we wanted to make personal connections with others in our craft.
we were happy to be a part of a trade association that effectively brought its practitioners together to create a cooperative, constructive, and persuasive voice. The SGAA was especially constructive and persuasive in the early 1990s when faced with a government ban on lead. (If not for its action, what would exist of the craft today?) This trade association rose to the occasion to preserve and protect the craft when it was formed in 1903 and has done so many more times over the 111 years of its existence.
Although many have challenged the value of membership and of being an Accredited Professional Member of the Stained Glass
Association of America, for Fred and me it is — and always has been — very clear. We have been and still are reaping the benefits of what
our predecessors have created, grown, and maintained. As our success is so firmly linked with our membership in the SGAA, we now
endeavor to follow in the footsteps of the leaders in our craft and make every effort to further strengthen the value of being a member of
the trade association of the stained glass industry.
We tell our clients that we are an Accredited Professional Member of the SGAA and explain that the SGAA is the trade association and
has been since 1903. We explain to them how the SGAA sets standards and goals and performs the due diligence of providing Accreditation
and Certification to those qualified and deserving of this acknowledgement. As an Accredited Professional Member, we proudly display
the seal of the only accrediting body for stained glass professionals in this country. As a result, our clients’ confidence in us, our studio,
and the SGAA is firmly established.
During my second term as President of the SGAA, the Executive Board will continue the momentum of the past year to increase the
value of membership and the value of Accreditation in this organization, by prioritizing new goals and accomplishing them.
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The Stained Glass Quarterly
Susan Shea