Jacoby Drawings Exhibit

Tom and I have learned that the world of architects is a pretty small one but the world of stained glass must be tiny. Our building has connected us with a few stained glass fans and artists. There was an exhibit of drawings that included Jacoby and the firms that acquired them at Marquette University. Unfortunately, I heard about it after the exhibit closed. This time, the work of Jacoby Art Glass has made it all the way to the east coast.

There is a stained glass artist in Frederick Maryland, Barbra Quinn, that somehow found out about us. She called my office last week and shared her story about acquiring drawings and cartoons created by the Jacoby Studios.  Like the firm Oakbrook Esser, that put together the exhibit in Marquette, she was approached by some folks looking to sell the drawings. I have my theories about how the drawings ended up touring the country looking for buyers, but it is all speculation. Barbra has a Facebook page that details the drawings she has painstakingly restored and their exhibitions. She mentioned that she has more detailed information about the studio’s work including a listing of their job numbers. That might help us to identify some of the design drawings we’ve uncovered. We’ve found a bunch more since this post- more on that to come.

These drawings are really works of art on their own but it appears that, like animation cells before them, they were not valued at the time of their creation. Fortunately, there are people that have realized their worth and are preserving them.

Barbra’s plan is to stop in St. Louis on a road trip to California in the Fall. We’re looking forward to meeting her and learning about how to be preserve the pieces we’ve found.