If you believe the rumors, then you might think that stained glass cannot today achieve the same high quality as seen in the European cathedrals built hundreds of years ago. You might have heard another rumor that real stained glass has been replaced with plastic. Finally, as a quick glance at the membership lists of the SGAA will show, there are a great many people who are today creating beautiful stained glass windows, custom tailored to the needs of their clients. At first glance, these rumors can be frightening when one is preparing to commission stained glass. Stained glass is both an ancient fine art and a craft.
Stained glass can bring beauty, joy and inspiration into one's life.
It is truly a shame that more people do not benefit on a daily basis from all that stained glass has to offer. The first great stained glass falsehood is the belief that stained glass today is not of the quality seen in the cathedrals built in times past. This unfortunate misunderstanding no doubt stems from what people often encounter that masquerades as stained glass. While it is possible to see quality stained glass at the myriad craft shows and fairs across the country, one will just as often see some scrap of colored glass with a pewter figurine in the shape of one or another mythological creature glued to it and passed off as stained glass. It is unfortunate that these poor cousins to art glass are so often what one encounters as stained glass.