{"id":44353,"date":"2019-12-19T15:35:53","date_gmt":"2019-12-19T20:35:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=44353"},"modified":"2020-02-06T14:43:34","modified_gmt":"2020-02-06T19:43:34","slug":"artist-zac-nafziger-10-and-new-vmrc-installation-featured-in-stained-glass-quarterly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2019\/artist-zac-nafziger-10-and-new-vmrc-installation-featured-in-stained-glass-quarterly\/","title":{"rendered":"Artist Zac Nafziger ’01 and new VMRC installation featured in ‘Stained Glass Quarterly’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It all starts with a full-scale Sharpie drawing \u2013 black lines curving around one another, mapping out designs up to several feet in width. Then, stained glass artist Zac Nafziger \u201801<\/strong> picks out the colored pieces as he goes: cutting them, grinding down the edges, and wrapping them in copper foil. Once the whole piece is assembled, he brushes on a light coat of \u201cflux,\u201d which facilitates the metals bonding, and solders the joints with a lead and tin alloy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI like to think of it more as a painter\u2019s palette,\u201d Nafziger said. While some glass artists predetermine the exact colors they\u2019ll use, in a color-by-number style, Nafziger makes creative use of his shelves upon shelves of colored glass — the entire inventory of a Kentucky glass shop that he bought several years ago.  \u201cI\u2019ve got access to all of this, I\u2019m going to use it. And that\u2019s why some of these pieces come out more colorful than if it was planned out, because I\u2019m just determining what best fits.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n


<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"

The circular ripples are the names of the donors who helped commission the piece (Photo by Macson McGuigan)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Installation inspired by community interactions<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Nafziger recently made a piece for the Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community (VMRC) in Harrisonburg \u2013 a vast, 6-foot by 18-foot window in undulating shades of blue that took him around 500 hours to create. \u201cRipple\u201d was installed in April of this year in the new Transitional Care Center in the Oak Lea building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nafziger said he was inspired by \u201cthe community involvement behind it \u2026 the idea for that was these big drops that all connected into one big ripple through the piece, through both the gradient of color used and the design itself. And so it sort of symbolized all the interactions that we have on a daily basis affects the next person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The artwork, which provides colorful decor to a renovated dining area called The Grill, has been well-received, said Les Helmuth ’78<\/strong>, executive director of the VMRC Foundation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVMRC was looking for an original piece of art that reflected our values, mission and vision \u2013 and, honored all<\/em> the donors who contributed to our most recent capital campaign \u2026 Zac\u2019s piece absolutely exceeded our expectations.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Playing\u2019 with light<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The studio where all the magic happens is in a 200-square-foot shed at Nafziger\u2019s home in Weyers Cave. For the past seven years, Nafziger rented spaces at the Spitzer Art Center and Larkin Arts in Harrisonburg. Just two weeks after moving in, the walls are filled with finished works, pieces still in progress, and tons of glass sheets organized by color and size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Zac Nafziger in his Weyers Cave studio. (Photos by Randi B. Hagi)
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It takes him, on average, a month to design a piece with the client and a few weeks to build it. With some of his works, like the one in the prayer room at Community Mennonite Church, a large group of stakeholders will brainstorm ideas that Nafziger distills into an image.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\t\u201cWhat I ended up doing was using those ideas and breaking it down into what they meant,\u201d Nafziger explained. \u201cThe general idea was either a blessing or a cleansing. What I came up with was hands with water pouring out of it, so it became much more abstract.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"

<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\tNafziger has been working with stained glass since he took an independent study as a student at Eastern Mennonite High School. He then attended the Savannah College of Art and Design and Eastern Mennonite University. Though he liked sculpture and other forms of three-dimensional design, he says \u201cthe medium of glass really stuck with me, and was more relatable than anything else … there\u2019s something about the light, being able to play with light that was much more appealing.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Artist-about-town<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

\t\u201cBeing self-employed, I\u2019m everything from janitorial services to CEO,\u201d Nafziger said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"

<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\tHis artwork has attracted a number of accolades over the years, including the Popular Choice Award in VMRC\u2019s 2017 Juried Art Exhibition and the Best of the Valley: Fine Artist award, from Harrisonburg\u2019s Daily News-Record<\/em> in 2018. He was also a featured artist in this fall\u2019s quarterly magazine of the Stained Glass Association of America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nafziger was among the artists commissioned for Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s Centennial art installation. \u201c10x10x100\u201d<\/a> featured 100 new works from each of the five artists, with each piece measuring 10 by 10 inches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\tBesides commissioned and personal work, Nafziger has been making fantastical custom pieces for the Red Wing Roots music festival for the last six years. He finds stringed instrument frames that are broken beyond repair, and creates a stained-glass \u201cface\u201d that sits over the top of color-changing LED lights inside the body of the fiddle, or baby cello, or guitar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not something I normally make,\u201d Nafziger said. \u201cIt\u2019s a fun extra project I get to do.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

View more of Zachary Nafziger\u2019s work on Facebook at <\/em>ZN Stained Glass<\/em><\/a>. Those interested in commissioning artwork can reach Nafziger at (540) 421-0313 or znstainedglass@yahoo.com.<\/em>
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It all starts with a full-scale Sharpie drawing \u2013 black lines curving around one another, mapping out designs up to several feet in width. Then, stained glass artist Zac Nafziger ... read more about Artist Zac Nafziger ’01 and new VMRC installation featured in ‘Stained Glass Quarterly’<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44354,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[266,7931,5591,17562,12507],"tags":[],"feature":[17427,17241],"class_list":["post-44353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-arts","category-business-and-leadership","category-digest","category-vaca","feature-emu-home-page-feature","feature-news-feature"],"yoast_head":"\nArtist Zac Nafziger '01 and new VMRC installation featured in 'Stained Glass Quarterly' - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2019\/artist-zac-nafziger-10-and-new-vmrc-installation-featured-in-stained-glass-quarterly\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Artist Zac Nafziger '01 and new VMRC installation featured in 'Stained Glass Quarterly' - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It all starts with a full-scale Sharpie drawing \u2013 black lines curving around one another, mapping out designs up to several feet in width. 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