Raised in Yorkshire, England, David Wilson (b. 1941) began training in design and working with glass in the early 1960s, graduating from Middlesbrough College of Art with a National Diploma in Design in 1961 and taking follow-up courses at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London the following year. In the spring of 1963, Wilson moved to New York City and worked at the Rambusch Decorating Company where, in addition to glass design, he contributed to “space planning, interior and sanctuary furnishing design, mural design, and architectural model building,” becoming the head of their stained glass studio in 1975. In the Fall of 1978, Wilson moved to South New Berlin in Upstate New York where he continues to live and work.
Wilson has collaborated with leading architects such as Graham Gund, the Gund Partnership (MA), and Kevin Roche, KRJDA (CT). Architectural Glass Art magazine described Wilson as an admirer of Frank Lloyd Wright, adding that he creates “designs that are the result of reducing forms to their simplest solution,” and that emphasize “the importance of visual harmony in the built environment.” His projects include airports, churches, medical centers, corporate and public buildings, as well as people’s homes. Clients include Kenyon College, Corning Incorporated, Port Authority of NY & NJ, College of the Holy Cross, Loyola College in Maryland, Nations Bank, New York City MTA, Connecticut Commission on the Arts, UNC Chapel Hill. Religious projects include: Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Burlington, VT; Beth David Reform Congregation, Gladwynne, PA; Washington Hebrew Congregation, Washington DC; St Ignatius Chapel, University of Detroit Mercy, Detroit, MI; and St Mary’s Catholic Church, Richmond, VA.