Hear from the team that discovered and helped restore Tiffany Stained Glass in Arlington.
In 2001, Arlington County salvaged stained glass windows from the deteriorating Abbey Mausoleum, including a rare work by Louis Comfort Tiffany. Michael Leventhal, the County’s Historic Preservation Coordinator at that time, and Angela Adams of the Public Art Program partnered with Bill Spack, AIA, founding principal of CGS Architects, to rescue and restore these significant artifacts.
Over the ensuing two decades, CGS Architects led a series of design initiatives to conserve the glass and thoughtfully integrate it into public buildings throughout the County, including the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington, the Fairlington Community Center and the Westover Library (formerly the Reed School). The centerpiece, Christ in Blessing by Tiffany, was installed at Unity Homes at Ballston in 2024, exemplifying Arlington County’s strong commitment to historic preservation and cross-sector collaboration.
This sustained effort to restore and reintegrate the stained glass was chronicled by Spack in the Stained Glass Association of America magazine article(PDF, 3MB), “Tiffany 2.0: A Historic Preservation Story of Discovery, Renewal and Rebirth in Arlington County, VA.” The article traces the rescue and restoration of eight stained glass windows from a mausoleum slated for demolition and documents their twenty-year journey toward renewed public life.
Read the article here(PDF, 3MB) or in Vol 120 No. 2 of the SGQ, available at store.stainedglass.org.