Art Femenella & Amy Valuck
Conservation Techniques in two Contrasting Projects
Amy Valuck and Art Femenella will discuss the work involved with two very different historical stained glass projects on which they have recently collaborated: the Tiffany Studios resurrection window at Calvary United Methodist Church in Philadelphia, and a set of sixteen Maitland Armstrong Windows from St. Paul’s Chapel at Columbia University, NYC. Although Tiffany and Armstrong were contemporaries, their aesthetics and construction methods were very dissimilar, and restoring each studio’s windows presents unique challenges. Cleaning methods, glass repairs, and structural fixes for each project will be reviewed, as well as situations specific to each window.
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Amy Valuck is a stained glass conservator, artist, and craftsman in West Chester, PA who works primarily with the restoration and conservation of historical stained glass. She is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design who originally trained as a jeweler before moving to stained glass. She has spent over 20 years at the bench as a glazier and painter working directly on windows from significant studios such as Tiffany, LaFarge, Armstrong, Mayer of Munich, D’Ascenzo, and Heaton, Butler and Bayne. She served as studio manager at The Art of Glass in Media, PA from 2005 until 2014 when she founded her own studio.
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Arthur Femenella, Sr, FAIC, APT-RP is a veteran of the Viet Nam War. He is a liveryman in The Worshipful Company of Glazers and Painters of Glass; a Freeman of London. His formal education is physics at City College of New York. Mr. Femenella began training in stained glass in 1968 and apprenticed to the Greenland Studio of New York from 1972. From 1981 through 1988, Arthur Femenella was the co-owner and vice-president of the firm. In 1988, he opened his own consulting firm. He also became vice- president and co-owner of the Jack Cushen Studio of New York. Both studios gained international recognition for excellence in the field of stained glass conservation.
