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INDY 2013The 104th Annual Summer Conference of the

Stained Glass Association of Americaby Richard Gross

Judson Portzer in the Sylvia Laks’ Enamels Painting pre-Conference class.

Jerome Durr andChristie Wood in the air-brushing pre-Conferenceclass, which was taughtby Janet Zambai.

This year’s Annual SummerConference — the 104th in the StainedGlass Association of America’s 110-year history — was held in June inIndianapolis, Indiana, and boasted thelargest number of attendees since theSGAA’s 100th Anniversary celebrationheld in 2003. Conference attendeeswere attracted by the Association’squality program and by the joint cele-bration held with Kokomo OpalescentGlass, marking their 125th year in busi-ness producing glass for stained, deco-rative, and architectural art glass innearby Kokomo, Indiana.

The SGAA Stained Glass School’slong tradition of helping practitioners toadvance their craft skills and acquirenew skills and techniques was contin-ued this year with three pre-Conferenceclasses. These two-day, hands-on work-shops were Painting with Enamels,taught by Sylvia Laks; Airbrushing forStained Glass, taught by Janet Zambai;and Glass Lamination, taught by VolkerBrock. These classes were sponsored byBadger Brush; Bohle America, Inc.;Reusché and Company of T.W.S., Inc.;and Ultra Kiln.

This year’s Conference featured aspecial stained glass exhibition that fea-tured panels made entirely fromKokomo Opalescent Glass’s glass. Theexhibition included some extremely

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Volker Brock demonstrating laminating techniquesusing two-part silicone in a pre-Conference class.

Membership Chairman David Judson (right, top photo) introducesnew Accredited Members of the Stained Glass Association ofAmerica. Top photo, to the left are Mary Zodnick and Ben Parsonsof Azure Stained Glass Studio, LLC; middle photo are representa-tives of Jacksonville Art Glass: Paul Jurgens, Sean Merchant, RonWeaver, and Steve Ledbetter. In the bottom photo are new ActiveAccredited members (left) Vivian Faulkner, Tall Poppy Productions,LLC; and Emily Carlson, Solstice Art Source.

Sylvia and Erique Lakspresented an overviewof Sylvia’s work instained glass at theWelcome Banquet. TheTransfiguration, left,was among the workshown.

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Walter Blenko, Blenko Glass Company, Inc., addresses the membership before the first general business meeting.

Top: Ahihiko Kawamoto describes his studio’s exhibitionYuukyuu no Kirameki.

Above: representatives of Studio Kawamoto with SGAAPresident Jerome R. Durr (far right) and Valerie and John

McCartney from Full Spectrum Stained Glass Studio

Left: A special panel made up of Christie A. Wood, ArtGlass Ensembles, Denton, Texas; Kevin Grabowski, ConradSchmitt Studios, New Berlin, Wisconsin; and Rolf Achilles,curator of the Smith Museum of Stained Glass, Chicago,Illinois, discussed topics in restoration and addressed ques-tions from the audience.

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The Kokomo Opalescent Glass 125th Anniversary ExhibitionWinners are (top) Judson Portzer, Lady of the Lake in first place;(right) Sean Merchant’s 125 Pieces in second place; and (above)

Celita Ulate Sanchez’s Seven finished third. Congratulations to allof the participants on an excellent exhibition.

Photographs by Laura Parham.

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Top: Kokomo Opalescent Glass’s 125th AnniversaryGroup Photograph. The SGAA’s Annual SummerConference attendees were all invited to participatein this photograph; some of them had been presentfor a similar photo taken 25 years ago when theSGAA celebrated KOG’s 100th Anniversary.

Left: Leigh Anne Harmon (far left), SGAA PresidentJerome R. Durr (middle), and SGAA Past-PresidentDennis Harmon take time to socialize at theKokomo Opalescent Glass 125th AnniversaryCelebration.

Above: Tours were a part of the festivities.Attendees broke into small groups and touredKokomo’s manufacturing plant.

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The tour of Kokomo’s facility includedthe warehouse, with its extensive invento-ry of glass (top left) and the manufactur-ing area (top right), which is always fas-

cinating to watch. Some Conferenceattendees scoured Kokomo’s scrap area

for hidden treasures (above).

Glass Manufacturers were well represent-ed at the Conference. Attendees included

(right, from left to right) Eric Lovell,Uroboros Glass; Dick Elliott, Kokomo

Opalescent Glass; Walter Blenko, BlenkoGlass; and John O’Donnell, Kokomo Opalescent Glass.

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This and opposite page: St. Patrick’s CatholicChurch, Kokomo, Indiana, was the first stop on the

annual tour of stained glass installations. Thechurch was built in 1911, and the entire edifice is

made from Bedford Stone. The Riordan windows areall made from Kokomo glass.

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moderated by Jerome R. Durr, SGAAPresident, discussed topics in restorationand addressed questions from the audi-ence.

After lunch, Ahihiko Kawamotopresented an overview of his studio’sexhibition Yuukyuu no Kirameki,which was held in Japan’s prestigiousNumazu Goyoutei — the ImperialVilla. Later, Conrad Schmitt Studios’preservationist Eileen Grogan spokeon restoration. The afternoon’s lecturesconcluded with Dennis Harmon ondesigning for stained glass and BobJones on the work of Maitland andHelen Armstrong. The day’s Lecture

Showcase was sponsored by ArmourProducts and the SGAA Stained GlassSchool.

The final day of the Conferencewas packed with activities that beganin Kokomo, Indiana, with KokomoOpalescent Glass in celebration oftheir 125th Anniversary. It took twotour busses to carry everyone toKokomo, and a number of peopledrove their own vehicles, hoping tostock up on Kokomo glass while theywere there.

After lunch, which was provided byKOG, the busses left for St. Patrick’sCatholic Church in Kokomo, which fea-

tures Riordan windows made entirelyfrom KOG’s glass.The last stop on thetour was at St. Luke’s United MethodistChurch back in Indianapolis. Thischurch includes windows from FoxStudios, Emil Frei, and MinniettaMillard.

The evening’s awards reception andbanquet was sponsored by S.A.Bendheim and began with comedianDave Dugan. Known for his appearanceson HBO, Comedy Central, and Fox,Dugan entertains at events across thecountry. He is a regular contributor on theBob and Tom Show and has appeared onmore than 25 Bob and Tom CDs.

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INDY 2013Continued from Page 119.

The newly elected Board of Directors consists of (from left to right) Bill Klopsch, Treasurer; Al Priest,Financial Secretary; Jennifer Banbury, Recording Secretary; Kathy Barnard, First Vice President; JeromeDurr, Director; David Sussman, Director; Diane Eissinger, Director; David Judson, Second VicePresident; Bob Markert, School Director; Christie Wood, Director; and Sue Shea, President.

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However, Dugan says that he is bestknown for his starring role in the ill-fatedafter-school special “Bucky the OkayDog with Just a Little Bit of Rabies.”

INDY 2013 was a resounding suc-cess that placed the Stained GlassAssociation of America in a prime posi-tion to move its Annual SummerConference forward to a whole newlevel next year, when the Conferencewill be held at the historic Elms Resort& Spa in Excelsior Springs, Missouri.Next Year’s Conference will feature anexpanded format that is designed to beprimarily an artists’ retreat while alsooffering workshops and seminars ofinterest to the more business-minded.Look for more details in this issue ofThe Stained Glass Quarterly, in futureeditions of this magazine, and online atwww.stainedglass.org.

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SGAA Stained Glass School Director Bob Markert (left photo) and comedian Dave Dugan (right photo) in the midst of a spirited yet lighthearted exchange during Dugan’s show. For the record, in this writer’s opinion, Bob won.

With his very successful term as President at a close, Jerome Durr passes the mantleof leadership to the newly elected President, Sue Shea.