The Angel of the Lilies: Restoring light at the speed of sound

Description

The Angel of the Lilies, a magnificent Tiffany stained glass memorial window originally commissioned around 1889 for a Unitarian church in Roxbury, MA, was donated in 1925 to the Unitarian congregation in Amherst. The opalescent window was restored in 2013-2014 by Cohoes Design Glass Associates, Inc., thanks to a grant from the Town of Amherst?s Community Preservation Fund Program. Come view the window and enjoy an illustrated presentation by Nigel D. Johnson, president and co-owner of the restoration studio. The program will focus on the stained glass window, its overall historical and cultural context, and some of the mysteries of the restoration process. A reception will follow. Johnson began working in the medium of stained glass in 1982, when he apprenticed at the stained glass studio at Canterbury Cathedral in England, conserving their priceless collection of medieval stained glass, as well as collections in a variety of other locations, such as Lincoln Cathedral and St. George?s Chapel in Windsor. In 1989 he was awarded a H1B visa for distinguished merit and ability to come to the U.S. and work at Cummings Studios in North Adams. MA, on the landmark restoration project at Memorial Hall, Harvard University, as well as many other projects in churches, state capitols and other historic landmark buildings. He co-founded Cohoes Design in 1993. to continue working in stained glass and was awarded the Samuel Gallard Stoney Award for Conservation craftsmanship for the studio?s work on restoring the Tiffany windows at St. Michael?s Church in Charleston, SC, a four-year project ending in 2003.