The Gil Studio is approaching its fourth decade of work in the field of stained glass.
In mid 2018, the studio suffered the untimely passing of our friend, mentor, and company founder, Thomas Garcia.
In 2020, under the direction of new owner Zachary Green, the studio relocated from Brooklyn, across two rivers, to just outside the Lincoln Tunnel in Union City, NJ, marking a new chapter in the company’s story. Here, in the Historic Yardley Building, the former home of the Yardley Soap Company, we have been carrying on in the inimitable spirit of Tom Garcia.
The following pages will hopefully give a sense of who we are today and how we approach our work. We are currently accepting commissions for both conservation and new works.
Zachary Green, a craftsman and interdisciplinary teaching artist based in Jersey City, is originally from Trenton, New Jersey. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, and a Certificate in Kiswahili from the Institute of Swahili and Other African Languages in Zanzibar, Tanzania.
Zach is the owner and principal at The Gil Studio, a role he has held since 2019. He began working in stained glass in 2001 with glass artist Don Hector, in Lambertville. NJ, and previously owned and operated his own studio, the Princeton Stained Glass Company, where he worked in design, fabrication, and restoration, and concentrated in traditional vitreous stained glass painting.
Zach is an accomplished teaching artist, working in several visual and performing arts disciplines for more than two decades, and has served as an artist-in-residence in countless schools and community groups throughout the region. He has presented his varied programs through Young Audiences of NJ, the NJ State Council on the Arts and the legendary Institute for Arts and Humanities Education.
Zach currently serves on the Board of The American Glass Guild, (AGG) and brings his passion for teaching to its Education Committee.
Every project is unique, and a new learning opportunity.
The Gil Studio strives to maintain the highest standards of craftsmanship and stewardship, as well as safety and integrity in the industry. We pride ourselves on being forthright and honest about the work we can and will preform, and that which we will not. As an educator, Zach approaches stained glass work with an eye towards the pursuit and open sharing of knowledge and excellence.
The following are several professional affiliations and resources that we hold up as the standards by which our clients and their art glass works should be meticulously treated.
History of the Studio
Tom Garcia
Tom Garcia, the studio’s late founder, first opened his doors for business in 1989, at 262 Mott Street, in New York City. The studio lived in several locations in Brooklyn since then, before settling most recently in Union City, NJ. Tom trained, with so many of his generation, at the renowned Greenland Studio, in New York City, and subsequently ran the stained glass department at the historic Rambusch Company. He was widely regarded for his skills and knowledge of the craft.
In the ensuing decades, the studio has been a crossroads of numerous artists and craftspeople, and has hosted many well known designers and architects, and civic, academic and religious institutions. The collaborations with so many talented and creative people have resulted in the creation and preservation of many outstanding artworks, and many fond memories.
The Gil Studio has been honored to care for some of the nation’s most cherished stained glass artworks, including those by many historic studios, including Louis C. Tiffany, Maitland Armstrong, Willet, J & R Lamb, Nicola D’Ascenzo, G.Owen Bonawit, Henry Wynn Young, Henry Holiday, Clayton and Bell, J. Gordon Guthrie, Heaton, Butler & Bayne, The Whitefriar Studio, Franz Mayer of Munich, The Belcher Mosaic Company, among many others.
The studio has performed work at many well known cultural and theological landmarks in all five boroughs of New York City, and across the country. These sites include The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The West Point Academy, Carnegie Hall, The Brooklyn Academy of Music, Borough Hall in Brooklyn, Yale University, Trinity Church in Lower Manhattan, The Church of the Ascension, The D.A.R. headquarters in DC, and countless others.
These endeavors have earned the studio many accolades, including eight Lucy G. Moses Preservation Awards, presented by The New York Landmarks Conservancy.
The Gil Studio wishes to acknowledge the infinite talents and contributions of the many people who have been involved in our endeavors, and to recognize that none of our many accomplishments would be possible without all of them.
