Kansas Made

Wichita Benton Overbrook

David E. Anderson drew up plans for customized homes in eastern Kansas. That changed in the early 2000s when he suffered a head injury and went through over a year’s recovery at age 63. Unable to work at that point, found himself returning to an old hobby—glass work—and wanting to return to a slower lifestyle.

“I grew up east of Ottawa, went to school in a little schoolhouse, Briles Schoolhouse,” he says. “I always considered myself a farm and ranch cowboy, so I like being in the country and the country atmosphere.”

So in 2004 Anderson picked up stakes and moved to an area east of Overbrook, where he bought a 1930s stone building, a former grocery store and gas station that had been built on the property of a Santa Fe Trail trading post.

“I bought it knowing I was going to put my studio here,” Anderson says. “I’m in the only stone-glass building within 8 miles. It’s such a unique setting.”

After about 9 years of living and working at the studio, Anderson was joined by his son, Steven, a retired Marine who now works alongside him six days a week.

“We’ve got works displayed in 37 states and four other countries,”

By Lisa Waterman Gray

says Anderson, who also teaches all-day classes in small sizes of 3 to 4 students at a time.

When he isn’t teaching others to create their own art, Anderson says he enjoys bringing customers into the process.

“I like when people come in with a thought in their mind or a picture, then I’ll draw a design to their size and they get a custommade piece,” Anderson says. “The customer can say, ‘I went out and talked to this guy and helped design this glass work.’ That’s fulfilling for me.”

Benton Art inspired Scott Hartley from a young age. As an adult he left teaching to create handblown glass décor. Today, Hartley’s work appears in more than 90 galleries across the nation and the globe. Illuminated Art Glass is a thriving family business, and Hartley relishes working with his customers.

Wichita One of the region’s largest sources for stained glass supplies is a great place to take public classes, too. In-house artists create gorgeous custom residential and commercial windows, reflecting Frank Lloyd Wright and Prairie Style to Abstract or Art Nouveau design.