Behind The Glass: Creating A Space For Women In A Centuries Old Craft
Move Over Bob, August 18, 2020
In the tradition of the Akamba people of Kenya, a child is given one name when they are born, and a second when they come into their own later on in life. “My father bestowed my grandmother’s name, Nzilani, to me the day I received my Master’s Degree in stained glass conservation from the Royal College of Art in London,” says Ariana Makau, Master Glass Conservationist and Founder of Nzilani Glass in Oakland, California. Read the article »
Preservation Design Award for Craftsmanship and Preservation Technology
California Preservation Foundation, 2020
In early 2019, Nzilani Glass Conservation was contacted by Resurrection Church in downtown Oakland to conserve the 12 panel, inverted stained-glass dome in their sanctuary. The building had originally been owned by the First Church of Christ, Scientist (1902-2015), then been purchased to be converted to a retail space (2015-2019), then bought in 2019 by ResOak, Oakland to be used again as a church. At 118-years-old, the dome was in a critical state of disrepair, requiring multi-approached conservation involving engineers, metal-smiths, stained-glass, scaffolding and documentation. This included glass stabilization, re-leading and the re-engineering of its structural support system. The uncommon inverted orientation of the dome required the team to come up with innovative new methods to return the dome to its original state, while also improving its structural integrity, allowing a new generation of congregants and the public at large to enjoy its beauty. Read the announcement »
Local Oakland stained glass conservation studio pivots to make masks for those in need
May 4, 2020
When the shelter in place order was announced in mid-March, Makau immediately started thinking about how she could keep her staff employed while continuing to serve those in the Bay Area Community. Nzilani’s core values are “Be Safe. Have Fun. Do Excellent Work.” The company leads the industry in best practices for employee protection from lead exposure while working with stained glass. It seemed logical for the company to pivot to making cloth masks. The talented Nzilani crew could continue working as an essential business and provide protection for those in need. Download press release »
Nzilani Completes Conservation of Historic Stained Glass Dome in the Heart of Downtown Oakland
January 27, 2020
A 10-foot diameter, inverted stained glass dome from the historic Christian Science church on 1701 Franklin will soon be re-installed by Nzilani Glass Conservation. The church was recently purchased by Resurrection Oakland Church, who contracted Nzilani to preserve the 118 year-old piece in their West Oakland Studio after an initial assessment identified previous bad repairs. Download press release »
Woman at Work: Stained Glass Conservator Ariana Makau
My first job in conservation was an internship at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Antiquities Conservation. That inspired me to get a Master’s in Stained Glass Conservation. After that I worked at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. I returned to California and started my own business in Oakland when I saw a need for museum quality work in the public sector. Nzilani Glass Conservation works locally, plus all over the country. Read the article »
Preservation Design Award, Grace Cathedral
California Preservation Foundation, 2018
Grace Cathedral hired Nzilani Glass Conservation to survey and subsequently conserve many of their stained glass windows. The project is significant as there had never been a comprehensive survey amassed into a single document which the Church could quickly reference to make informed decisions to move forward in conservation work. It was also the first time some windows had been completely conserved, rather than the stop-gap measures done previously. Most importantly for historic research, the two oldest leaded windows, The New and Old Testament (1931 and 1932 respectively) were conserved in the order the original windows were installed. Each window has the identical configuration of 303 panels comprised of lancets and decorative tracery, spanning approximately 570 square feet. Conserving them in the same order and back to back over 2015 – 2017 provided valuable insight to what the original Connick Studios chose to keep or change from one window fabrication to another. Key discoveries were: the same numbering systems created by both the original and conservation companies independent of each other, and improvements to the installation system between the New and Old Testament. Since no fabrication documentation was originally given to the church and Connick Studios is now defunct, these discoveries shed light on the original studio’s practices. These can be applied to the rest of the church as well as other churches with Connick windows as studios tend to maintain similar naming conventions once established. Read the announcement »