A bolt of sunlight beamed through the studio window of Ariana Makau’s West Oakland company, Nzilani Glass Conservation, bringing life to the panes of stained glass windows scattered around the room. In a sense, it echoes what Makau herself has done for the last three decades: bringing life back to damaged or worn stained glass all around the Bay Area.
“It’s almost like being the Florence Nightingale of windows,” Makau said with a grin.
Makau and her company have become the salvation of the Bay Area’s stained glass — from cathedrals to humble churches to opulent Pacific Heights homes. The broken, the worn, the abandoned all find healing within the hands of Makau and her crew…