Conrad Schmitt Studios

Founded in 1889 by German-American artist Conrad Schmitt, the company is one of the oldest and largest glass studios in the United States.

Conrad Schmitt Studios is represented at the Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows at Navy Pier in Chicago, and a replica of the early studio is featured in the "Streets of Old Milwaukee" display at the Milwaukee Public Museum.

[5] Gruenke was inspired while traveling in France during the 1940s, and is credited with what may be the first dalle de verre window created in the United States.

[6] Experiments with epoxy and support structure at Conrad Schmitt Studios led to the first large-scale installations of faceted glass in the country, including a chapel at Notre Dame University's Moreau Seminary in South Bend, Indiana in 1959.

After viewing a Czechoslovakian glass exhibit at the 1969 World's Fair in Osaka, Japan, Bernard O. Gruenke began to explore etching techniques at his New Berlin studio.