In the Spotlight
Ariana Makau is named in Red Wing’s Class of 2025 Honorees
Red Wing is proud to enshrine their boots, share their stories, and honor their hard work on the Wall of Honor—our tribute to the achievements of the men and women who build and maintain the world around us.
Windows To The Past - Traditional Building
When Simon Wistow and Stephanie Vacher purchased a 1900 Victorian in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, their attention was immediately drawn to the original floral-patterned leaded-glass windows in the home’s front bay. One of their first steps in the extensive renovation of the six-bedroom, 4,049-square-foot residence was hiring Nzilani Glass Conservation, a specialist in preserving leaded art glass, to restore the windows to their former glory at a cost of approximately $25,000.
The Birth of Nzilani
How Nzilani expanded from a small, one-woman studio to include a full-time core crew of glaziers, artists, project managers and interns.
Mitigating Lead Exposure in Stained Glass Conservation
Ariana Makau of Nzilani Glass Conservation makes lead safety attainable and practical for studio implementation
Local Oakland stained glass conservation studio pivots to make masks for those in need
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.
Nzilani featured on Business RadioX
In this interview for Bay Area Business RadioX, Ariana Makau shares her journey of building an award-winning business and industry leader in health and safety.
Nzilani is a highly specialized architectural glass preservation, design and fabrication company dedicated to making the profession more equitable by being accessible to under-served communities. What started as a small, one-woman studio has expanded to include a full-time core crew of glaziers, artists, project managers and interns. The company’s clients include private residences, churches, museums, and monumental historic buildings. Capable of completing a project “in-house” from start to finish, they also frequently collaborate with GCs, architects, masons, carpenters and metalworkers, etc.
Business RadioX features long-form interviews and in-depth conversations with local business leaders, allowing them to get the word out about the work they do to serve their market, their community, and their profession.
Preservation Design Award for Craftsmanship and Preservation Technology
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.
The Journeys and Experiences of Eight Women in Hands-On Preservation Careers
The main publication of the National Trust for Historic Preservation examines the major roles women currently play in maintaining and restoring America's historic places. Ariana Makau, one of the preservation professionals highlighted in the magazine, shares stories about her early introduction to the field, some of the challenges she has overcome as a woman, and her passion for witnessing the transformation of a building through her own contributions.
Cracked EP 38: Be Safe, Have Fun, Do Excellent Work with Ariana Makau of Nzilani Glass
Interview on “Cracked with Chevonne Ariss” On this weekly episodic series Chevonne shares the experience of storytelling with fellow modern stained glass artists as they share their journey into the craft.
Today’s episode is with Ariana Makau of Nzilani Glass. She is the second person in the world – and the first woman – to receive a Master’s Degree in Stained Glass Conservation from the Royal College of Art in London. Equally comfortable on a job site, at a board meeting or in a museum, Makau has over 25 years of experience with art and architectural preservation. She is a Board Member and Health and Safety Chair of the Stained Glass Association of America and is a Fellow of AIC. Before she started Nzilani, she worked at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, London’s V&A Museum, and the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Fillet Panel
Artist Statement explaining the background, creation and intent of panel comprised exclusively of shards salvaged during the preservation of the Old and New Testament windows at Grace Cathedral. The Fillet Panel is now on display at Grace as part of its permanent collection.
Woman at Work: Stained Glass Conservator Ariana Makau
We collaborate with high-end metal and woodworkers, engineers, and general contractors to solve unique problems, often with creative solutions that pair “old-school” fabrication with modern techniques. Nzilani is also dedicated to making our profession more equitable by being accessible to underserved communities, challenging the notion of who is qualified to work in our profession.
Are Your Stained Glass Windows Failing You?
Stained glass windows are often the crowning glory of a sacred space. Serving the dual purpose of art and architecture, they augment and enhance a space like few other architectural assets. Yet, for all their beauty, their primary purpose is to protect people from the elements. When windows start to bend or leak due to broken joints or cracked glass, most people notice the damage and call a specialist for help. What many people often miss is another key element—lead.
The Magic of Stained Glass Restoration
One of the world’s most venerable decorative forms, stained glass has been experiencing something of a renaissance thanks to a growing community of popular Instagram artists. The Built Blog sat down with Makau to talk about the future of this historical medium and how restoration work can help bring the designs of the past to light.
Behind The Glass: Creating A Space For Women In A Centuries Old Craft
Makau is every bit dynamic and nuanced as her chosen craft. She is passionate about leaving, in her words, “a legacy of creating a more diverse group of people who can preserve and create stained glass.” After perfecting her skills in glass conservation in museums around the world, Ariana knew there was a need to continue its legacy. She wanted to do so in a respectful, enjoyable, and safe way. “We make and preserve monumental artistic works…with our hands!” she remarks, “It’s thought-provoking and labor-intensive. Our work will physically survive for generations and contributes to the cityscape in which it’s located.”
2018 California Preservation Award
The Grace Cathedral: Stained & Leaded Glass Condition Survey & Conservation Project is the winner of a 2018 Preservation Design Award. Award recipients are selected by a jury of top professionals in the fields of architecture, engineering, planning, and history, as well as renowned architecture critics and journalists. In making their decision, the jury stated: “This appears to have been a painstaking conservation project. Kudos to the church for committing to such a careful restoration. Good job! This is a model project for this category.”
The Art of Health and Safety
Industrial hygienist David R. Hicks met Ariana Makau, the founder of a company that conserves historical glass works, in October 2019 at an event focused on the control of health and safety hazards in museums, historic sites, conservation treatment, and collection care. The Fourth Annual Safety and Cultural Heritage Summit was presented by the Potomac Local Section of AIHA; the Washington Conservation Guild; the Smithsonian Institution’s Office of Safety, Health and Environmental Management; and the Smithsonian National Collections Program in collaboration with the Lunder Conservation Center. At the event, Makau introduced Hicks to issues related to lead exposure in stained glass conservation, and the two began discussing how safety professionals, art conservators, and artists can work together while preserving stained glass as an art form.
Stained Glass Restorer Honors a Legacy
An Oakland newspaper features Nzilani’s work, as well as Ariana’s roots, inspiration, artistic and entrepreneurial vision, and continuous involvement in the community. The article describes Nzilani’s stained glass restoration projects at San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral, St. Albert’s Priory, and Resurrection Oakland Church.
Dove Window Preservation Documentary
In 2013, Nzilani Glass Conservation surveyed the windows of the Swedenborgian Church of San Francisco. We discovered that the Dove Window — which had illuminated the sanctuary for 118 years — was falling apart. The church is a “Level Four” National Historic Landmark (the highest available); putting Nzilani in the unique challenge of preserving as much of the original material as possible, while ensuring it was a functional piece of architecture that wouldn't fail again. Filmmaker Ian Carr of Goldilocks Studios captured this struggle — revealing the hard choices faced by the artists, conservators, and congregants who became involved.
Addressing the e-Elephant in the Room
So, you’re serious about lead safety in your (single-bench/bustling business) stained glass studio. You’ve implemented the first “3-for-Free” steps in safety, you: (1) have shoes designated specifically for your work area, (2) wash your hands during and after working, and (3) don’t eat where you work. What else can you do that is relatively easy and cheap to increase being safe?
San Francisco’s Victorian Houses Are Being Restored to Their Original Glory
A growing number of San Francisco homeowners are choosing to restore historic properties—in particular the Victorians that are so synonymous with the city. When a young couple bought a 1900 Victorian in Haight Ashbury, they immediately moved in and began planning restorations and updates, starting with preserving an elaborate but disintegrating stained-glass window at the front of the house. The four-month process, overseen by local specialist Nzilani Glass Conservation, involved removing the panels and taking them apart, salvaging all of the original broken pieces and rebuilding the missing glass.