Public Work

Barney Zeitz has been making public work in both stained glass and welded metal sculptures for over fifty years. In the early 70’s, his work was in leaded stained glass, but by 1978, he was experimenting with fused stained glass, crushing glass in a home made welded bucket with a sledge hammer (still using to this day), and trying metal oxide underpainting to create effects between the layers of glass. He has laminated these fused glass castings using epoxy and silicone. As early as 1982, these windows were commissioned for sanctuaries, churches, and other public spaces across the country. After learning how to weld metals at an adult education class on Martha’s Vineyard. in 1977, he went on to making a variety of objects in metals, including furniture, lighting, and then sculpture. He has won competitions for a Holocaust Memorial in Providence R.I. (1992), and Immigrant Memorial in Plymouth, MA (2001). More recently, in 2021, Zeitz installed the Diversity Sculpture on Government Center in Fall River (his hometown) after two years of directly welding stainless steel for two years alone during Covid lockdowns.