Chapman Stained Glass Studio Restores History for more than 100 years

Near-BY News:

Stained glass windows lean up against the windows in the showroom of the Chapman Stained Glass Studio, offering a lesson in what the clear glass windows could be. Inside the workspace, more windows wait for their touch-ups.

The converted garage on the corner of Quail and Elberon is filled with glass projects in various stages of completion, and contains everything from leaded glass door panels to monumental church windows. The shop is a short history in the advances made in the art of stained glass windows, beginning with the small jeweled windows, progressing to large glass portraits with painted surfaces that show shading, and then making way for Tiffany's opalescent shimmer and creative use of leading.

Ron Buckley, the shop foreman and head glazer points to a series of cracked gable windows from a Schuylerville church. Glazer Adam Krawczak is binding the cracks in these ancient windows, first soldering the pieces together, and then using horseshoe nails to hold the pieces in place until they dry.

Chapman Studios is also responsible for rescuing the generations Albany High School stained glass windows from the old high school at the corner of Washington and South Lake Avenue last year. The windows had been stored away in an old corner of the building when the old high school moved to its new location in 1913, and had long-since been forgotten. When work crews discovered them last year, Chapman Studios was responsible for moving, restoring, and storing them for the school district for future use. More recently Chapman completed the stained glass projects at the Albany Courthouse and Hackett Middle School.

The studio also creates new windows for homeowners and churches, and you can see examples of their detailed work in the showroom. The studio was established in 1898, and moved to its present location in the 1980s. Buckley has been working here since 1990, when he came on as intern. "I like the job because we're restoring history," Buckley says, looking around the shop. Where possible, they also try to connect private buyers with pieces that would otherwise end up in the landfill. Recently, they successfully sold two mammoth glass windows to a private buyer in Pennsylvania. Buckley and his crew are very happy because the shop has been looking for a home for the pieces for more than 30 years, he says.

Chapman Stained Glass Studio, Inc. is located at 212 Quail Street, Albany, NY 12206. For more information about their work, please call them at (518) 449-5552.