SHELBURNE FALLS — The crocuses are just starting to bud on the Bridge of Flowers, but they don’t yet match the abundant blooms on a new stained-glass window that has been donated for the new garden house at the village’s premiere tourist draw.
The work was created by stained-glass artists Nancy Katz and Mark Liebowitz of Nancy Katz/Wilmark Studios in Shelburne Falls.
The couple spent a few hours on a rainy Monday fitting the flower-motifed, 3-foot-tall stained-glass panel into the garden house wall closest to the flower path taken by thousands of visitors every summer.
A few years ago, to celebrate their marriage and their new shop in Shelburne Falls, Katz and Liebowitz donated a transom window to Memorial Hall, which has a Bridge of Flowers motif on it.
“In the Memorial Hall window, there was an image of the bridge,” explained Katz, “and we used some of the same glass. The design, when you see it, has a watery texture, and some flowers and some vines.”
Katz said the vines were encorporated into the design because there are plans to eventually have vines on lattice work near the shed.
Most stained-glass windows are seen by people from the inside of a building, but “this is a case where the window is to be seen exclusively from the outside, by the visitors coming over the bridge,” Liebowitz said. “We were very aware of selecting the glass that would look good from the outside.”
Also, Katz and Liebowitz put tempered glass on the inside of the panel, to protect it from being dinged by the shovels and rakes stored inside the garden shed.
“It’s well protected,” said Katz. “So nobody should worry.”
Over the years, the Bridge of Flowers has had many contributions from local artists that have built gates or guestbook stands, fountains and benches along the path.
“We’re in good company,” said Liebowitz. “It’s a treat just to be a part of that community.”
Elaine Parmett, co-chair of the Bridge of Flowers Committee, said The Friends of the Bridge of Flowers has done much to contribute to the bridge, with artwork and with infrastructure, such as the new garden house.
“I want to say how much we appreciate their support and the beauty of what people have come forth with, whether its artwork, or volunteering their time,” she said.
Because of the early spring, the Bridge of Flowers is now open daily, weather permitting. It usually does not open to the public until April 1.