Founded in 1976, the store and studio rental space celebrates its half-decade of glassmaking with a block party.
Sep 17, 2026
Updated 1:39 pm PT
Stained Glass Garden owner Julie Orchard is looking forward to celebrating at a 50th anniversary block party this weekend. (Kelly Sullivan)
West Berkeley’s Stained Glass Garden is an active community hub built on artistic expression. Fifty years after opening its doors, in many ways, the glassmaking studio and gallery is a mosaic in and of itself.
The venue rents studio space for making fused glass panels and glass lampshades. The organization sells supplies to artists, holds classes for students and, in their gallery, showcases the works of more than 100 local glassmakers. “Many of whom got their start in our classes at some point in time,” says Julie Orchard, Stained Glass Garden owner.
The space is open daily, welcoming seasoned professionals, recent retirees and new visitors influenced by Instagram. “There’s a whole new generation of young folks coming out and creating with glass,” says Orchard, who also hosts many longtime glassmakers. “An hour ago I was with a someone who has been our customer for all 50 years. It’s just a wonderful, unique place.”
The range of artists who find peace in glasswork will be present on Sunday, Sept. 20, as Stained Glass Garden celebrates its 50th birthday with a block party.
Stained glass lamp shades are one of many items artists create at Stained Glass Garden in Berkeley. (Kelly Sullivan)
The event, which includes a community mosaic project and works from students over the past half-century, will take place in Berkeley’s Fourth Street shopping district. The organization has called the area home long before it turned into the bustling upscale neighborhood it is today, with a Sur la Table, Sephora and Herman Miller outlet all a short walk away.
“We were the first store down here,” says Orchard of what was then a small home-studio, founded in 1976 by Joan McLean. Orchard first joined Stained Glass Garden in 2004 and soon “fell in love with glass and all of its aspects,” she says.
Now, her glasswork community extends far beyond the shop. “I actually had a student in the delivery room with me when I was having my first child,” Orchard tells me, “and a different student was the pediatrician the next day.”
Stained Glass Garden’s 50th anniversary party is Sunday Sept. 20 from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. at Stained Glass Garden (1800 Fourth Street, Berkeley, CA 94710). Check here for more information.