Jeff and Carol Ball started Prestige Art Glass in 1990 because, as Jeff puts it, “I like creating and building things that make people happy. So I thought it might be a good way to spend my life.”
            Local glass artisan Joe St. Clair had died in 1987, and three years later, his equipment was being sold at auction. Jeff, a tinsmith by trade, had already decided to craft a new career direction, so when he learned Joe’s equipment was available, he and Carol snatched some of it up.
            “Joe seemed pretty happy with his life,” Jeff said, adding, “We’ve been making glass ever since.”
            Over the years, he said, Prestige Art Glass has carved a niche for itself as a source for specialty glass items.
            “We get requests almost every day for custom pieces,” he said.

Joe Rice is the last member of the St. Clair family still actively involved in making glass art. His grandfather, John “Pop” St. Clair, established St. Clair Glass in 1938, specializing in paperweights, ashtrays, pen holders and lamps. When Pop died in 1958, his son, Joe – who was Joe Rice’s uncle – took over the operation until he died in 1987.
            “I started working with my uncles at 408 North Fifth Street in 1962,” Joe said during a recent interview. “I was making glass paperweights when I was 12 – with no formal training or apprenticeship, just hands on.”
            In 1971, Joe’s brother and sister-in-law, Bob and Maude, started another glass business west of Elwood on State Road 28.