Sarah Hall (glass artist)

Early life

Born in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1951, Sarah Hall was the eldest of three children of Clifton Leonard Howard Hall and Laura Eveline (Walsh) Hall. In the first year of life she moved with her parents to Dundas, Ontario where they built a house on the ravine overlooking Warren Park. Hall was inspired by the natural surroundings of her childhood home in Dundas. The Niagara Escarpment which encircles the Dundas Valley including Webster's Falls and Tews Falls were important influences in the development of her work. Her father was Chairman of the Building Committee for St. Marks United Church in Dundas. During the design phase of St. Marks, when Hall was 9 years of age, she accompanied her father and his committee to many churches. It was in this time she made the decision to make stained glass windows her life’s work. As no classes in stained glass were offered in Canada during the 1960s and early 1970s, Hall lived and worked in Alberta photographing ghost towns for the Provincial Archives of Alberta supported by an OFY federal grant.

Glass Studies

In 1974, Hall enrolled in the Creative Arts Department at Sheridan College where stained glass was offered as one of the classes. In a decision to study stained glass full-time she enrolled in the Architectural Glass Department at Swansea College of Art, Wales, UK. Following her Diploma in Architectural Glass from The City & Guilds of London Institute, Hall assisted Lawrence Lee ARCA, Master of the Glass Department at the Royal College of Art in London. Hall's studies were completed with a year in Jerusalem researching Middle Eastern techniques in glass. One of the techniques she learned in Jerusalem was gold leafing on glass.

European artistic influences include the stained glass work of Marc Chagall, Henri Matisse, Georg Meistermann, Georges Rouault, Fernand Leger and Johannes Schreiter. Sites where these works were viewed were visited with her mentor art historian Peter Larisey, SJ (Society of Jesus) who taught at Regis College, University of Toronto. Artistic influences from Canada include glass artists Yvonne Williams and Rosemary Kilbourn and painter Emily Carr. Hall spent a summer on Haida Gwaii to photograph what remained of the villages and totem Carr had painted.

Personal life

In 1982, Hall married Jeffrey John Kraegel, a builder of musical instruments and piano technician for The Toronto Symphony Orchestra at Roy Thomson Hall. They have two sons, Jordan Benjamin Hall Kraegel and Jonathan Ezra Hall Kraegel. Both sons have shown strong ability in craftsmanship and design - Jordan in wood and Jonathan in metal. Hall's brother Brad Hall is an accomplished sculptor and blacksmith living in Nova Scotia.

First Studios - Leaded Glass Technique

In 1980, Hall established her own stained glass studio in Toronto. For the first four years, the studio was located in an old storefront at 94 Tecumseth Street. Hall then moved to 30 Portland Street with fellow glass artists Robert Jekyll, Steven Brathwaite, Karl Schantz, Andrew Kuntz and photographers Robert Burley and Andre Beneteau sharing the large 4th floor warehouse. An early supporter of Hall's work in glass was June Callwood who commissioned her work for Jessie’s Centre designed by architect Jack Diamond. Numerous projects were accomplished in this studio (1984 -1990) created in the traditional stained glass technique with glass painting and silver stain. In these projects, Hall did the design work and all of the technical work on the glass herself.

First Studios List of Works (1980 - 1990)

Dupont Street Studio - Expanded Techniques (1990 – 2005)

In 1990, having a large number of commissions forced another move to an exceptional space in the old General Electric warehouse at 1440 Dupont Street. Painted entirely white, this 3000 square foot studio had 30 foot high ceilings, massive skylights and windows. Several craftsmen assisted Hall in her work including John Wilcox, Rosiland Sokolosky, Hap Straker and William Lindsay. Glass techniques were expanded considerably in this time to include large murals based on gold leaf techniques (Scotia Plaza), reverse painted glass, sandblasting and glass etching with hydrofluoric acid. Towards the end of this period, Hall worked with craftsmen at Sattler Stained Glass Studio in Nova Scotia to facilitate larger projects. Her contribution to the built environment was honoured in 1997 by the Ontario Association of Architects "Allied Arts Award." She was elected in 2002 into membership of the Royal Canadian Academy of Art. Sarah Hall is listed annually in Canadian Who’s Who. Projects created in this period are included in the list below.

German Studio and Introduction to Solar (2004 – present)

In 2004, Hall received a Chalmers Arts Fellowship from the Ontario Arts Council to research and include photovoltaic technology in her art glass installations. This initiated a collaboration with Glasmalerei Peters GmbH in Paderborn, Germany. The first demonstration of PV technology was the "Northern Light" project co-ordinated by Concordia University at the Solar Decathlon in Washington, DC in 2005. In 2008, Hall and architect Clive Grout received an award from the American Institute of Architects for "Lux Nova", their photovoltaic art glass installation at Regent College, UBC. Canadian violinist Oliver Schroer composed music for "Lux Nova" and several concerts of his music were held at the studio. Mentorship for her work in solar power has come from physicist Ursula Franklin. A project called the "Wisdom Windows" honouring Rose Wolfe and the women of Massey College was commissioned by Master of the College John Fraser as a result of this mentorship. In 2008, Hall created BIPV for Grass Valley School in Camus, WA. This was followed by "Leaves of Light", Life Sciences Building at York University and "Waterglass" solar art facades at Harbourfront Centre. Hall’s most extensive solar project has been the monumental south windows entitled "Lux Gloria" at The Cathedral of the Holy Family in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, one of the sunniest city in Canada with over 2268 hours of sunlight per year. Although the focus was on solar integration in this period many projects were created in other techniques including glass mosaic, appliqué, screen-printing and fused glass.

Another new innovation has been solar glass retrofitting for existing buildings which provides a brand new building envelope that collects energy.

In her most recent work, Hall continues to explore innovative approaches to pressing environmental issues. In addition to bringing third generation photovoltaics (organic solar cells) into architecture, she is looking for ways to mitigate the worldwide problem of bird strike. This man-made plague causes some 100 million bird fatalities per year caused by bird-skyscraper collisions. Hall is working with researchers at the American Bird Conservancy to integrate new patterns and surfaces in architectural glass that will warn birds away and collect energy from sunlight at the same time.

Throughout her career Hall has sought to improve human environments through the medium of architectural glass. Over the years she has discovered creative ways to tackle global problems while maintaining the aesthetic integrity of her works - finding ways to develop greater energy autonomy and to live in harmony with the natural world.

Audio/Visual

Solo

With other artists

Awards

Hall's work has received several International First Place Awards for outstanding Liturgical art from both the Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art and Architecture, and Ministry and Liturgy.

In 2004, Hall was awarded a Chalmers Arts Fellowship (Ontario Arts Council): to research and integrate photovoltaic technology (solar energy collection cells) into her art glass installations. This unique fusion is the first of its kind in North America, and first premiered at the Solar Decathlon in Washington, DC.

Books

Hall has released four publications.