[padg] stained glass restoration

["Fox, Lisa" <lisa.fox@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear colleagues, I am posing this query in my personal rather than professional capacity.  My parish has allocated money for a significant project to restore our stained-glass windows.  We have discovered that some of the lead is deteriorating, and the wood around some of the windows is rotting. We also plan to replace the deteriorating, yellowed Lexan (?) with a newer protective covering. 

We are marooned here in the Midwest, where conservators aren't exactly plentiful.  So far, we have identified only one stained-glass studio that might do the work: Bovard Studios. 

I would appreciate knowing whether any of you are familiar with that studio and can comment on their conservation qualifications.  I would also invite any of you who have expertise in this field -- or who know of other qualified conservators who work in Missouri -- to contact me offline.  I would like to have more bids on this job. 

If my parish were exploring conservation of its paper and photograph collections, I would know how to evaluate the potential vendors.  But, when it comes to stained-glass conservation/restoration, I am at a complete loss. 

Thanks for any assistance you can provide. 

Lisa 

Lisa L. Fox
Grace Episcopal Church (& Missouri State Archives)
Jefferson City, MO