Made in Vermont: Lawrence Ribbecke Studios

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Larry Ribbecke has a lot going on in his small, Pine Street shop.

“Well, we design and build stained glass windows… that’s one thing,” he laughed.

Nestled in Burlington’s South End, Lawrence Ribbecke Studios handles all things stained glass, down to materials and supplies. It’s been a long-time love of Larry’s.

“I started in 1971. I was living in Boston,” he explained.

He learned the craft at a Boston-area studio while studying engineering at MIT. But, STEM didn’t quite call to him the way stained glass did.

”I would take a suitcase full of small stained glass pieces and a card table and I’d set up down there, ride the red line into downtown Boston. I’d come back with 100, 200 bucks in my pocket feeling like a hero,” he said, explaining that the money from those sales always went back to supplies.

Eventually, he took his passion to Vermont to do craft shows and markets, until he got an offer that changed his career.

“It was a Catholic priest up in Hyde Park who asked me to fix a buckling window,” he explained. “I said, ‘Bless me, father, I have no idea how to do this.’ And he said, ‘Well, can you learn? I don’t have anybody else.’”

He’s been blessed with a rewarding and beautiful career ever since.

“I personally think it’s the most spiritual art form I’ve ever run into,” he said.

Lawrence Ribbecke Studios handles mostly custom commissions nowadays, and sometimes, he’ll make what he feels like making. It’s an old and intricate art that’s been passed down century after century. Not long after opening up his studio back in 1996, the one-person team grew to two, after he met mosaic artist Emily Stoneking.

“I was actually quite taken with her character and her demeanor and her intelligence. So I said let’s give it a try, and we’re still giving it a try,” he laughed.

“We chatted and he said, you know, ‘I’d love to learn how to make mosaics. So if you want to teach me how to make mosaics, I can teach you how to do stained glass,’” she explained.

The trial run has lasted 22 years, but this duo isn’t counting.

“The color and the texture and the light… all of it was so overwhelming and beautiful. And also I just loved working with Larry,” Stoneking gushed.

After graduating from apprentice to co-owner, she is ready to keep the craft alive.

“He’s done such a beautiful job building, and I feel really honored to be able to hopefully keep it going forward into the future,” she said.

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