Awards & Testimonials

2022 Acanthus Award for Interior Design

2022

Our work at the St. Bernadette Catholic Church in Scottsdale, AZ was honored with the 2022 Acanthus Award for Interior Design Award. Find more information here.

2022 Sacred Spaces Liturgical/Interior Design Award

2022

Our work at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist was honored with the 2022 Liturgical/Interior Design Award. Find more information here.

2021 Preservation Design Award For Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church

2021

Our work on Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church was honored with the 2021 Preservation Design Award for Craftsmanship/Preservation Technology. Find more information here.

2021 KPA Medallion Award for St. Joseph German Catholic Church in Topeka, KS

September, 2021

Our work on the St. Joseph German Catholic Church was honored with the 2021 Kansas Preservation Alliance (KPA) Medallion Award. The award honors those that are dedicated to preserving Kansas' history and heritage.

2020 Acanthus Award for Excellence in Restoration and Preservation

2020

Our work at the St. Columban Catholic Church in Chillicothe, MO was honored with the 2020 Acanthus Award for Excellence in Restoration and Preservation. Find more information here.

2018 Acanthus Award

Preservation & Restoration

St. Stanislaus Parish & Oratory

Milwaukee, WI

PDCA PIPP Award 2015

Aug 25, 2015

Commercial Decorating: St. Charles Borromeo, St. Anthony, MN

PDCA PIPP Award 2014

Aug 25, 2015

Commercial Decorating: St. Peter’s Catholic Church, Omaha, NE

2013 PIPP Award for St. Genevieve Catholic Church, Lafayette, LA

Mar 22, 2013

St. Genevieve Catholic Church located in Lafayette, LA has won the 2013 award from The Painting and Decorating Contractors of America (Picture It Painted Professionally Award).

2012 Faith & Form/IFRAA award for the Cathedral of St. Joseph, Sioux Falls, SD

Jan 2, 2013

Our work on the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Sioux Falls, SD was honored with the 2011 Religious Architecture Award sponsored by Faith & Form magazine and the Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art and Architecture (IFRAA). The awards program honors the best in architecture, liturgical design, and art for religious spaces.

2011 SGAA Design Competition Awards

Aug 1, 2011

Conrad Schmitt Studios is proud to have received two awards at the SGAA (Stained Glass Association of America) 2011 Design Competition. This annual competition features designs from stained glass studios throughout the country, and CSS was pleased to receive both Third Place in the Creation theme and Best of Show for the same submitted design.

Our representation of creation pictures God the Father wearing robes of royal purple in the center of the universe, with the results of the six days of creation radiating from Him and filling the void represented by the darkness along the inside of the border. The six days of creation begin in the upper left and continue clockwise, separated by bursts of red light representing dawn and dusk. The final day of rest is represented by the yellow flowers in the border, the Traveler’s Joy, a symbol of rest.

2011 PIPP Award & INDesign Award for St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church, Abbeville, LA

Jun 1, 2011

One of our recent project, St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in Abbeville, LA, was recently honored with multiple awards. Conrad Schmitt Studios received the 2011 Picture It Painted Professionally Award for decorating and installation of murals. The PIPP Awards honor the best painting and decorating contractors across the nation. Additionally, the church was awarded with the Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation Special Award and the architect on the project, Gene Sellers, received the 2011 Gold Award for Architecture and Historic Preservation.

AIA Wisconsin 2011 Contractor Award for the Milwaukee County Historical Society

May 10, 2011: The Studio has received the AIA Wisconsin Contractor Award 2011 for the restoration work on the Milwaukee County Historical Society. The Milwaukee County Historical Society restored the building’s atrium and mezzanine to the original grandeur of the 1937 Second Ward Savings Bank. Removal of acoustical tile ceilings revealed ornate plaster moldings that had been riddled with hundreds of holes and covered with layers of paint. Molds were fashioned from existing ornamental plaster elements and new castings replaced those damaged by the installation of the dropped ceiling. The restored original Greek key, laurel leaf, egg and dart, and lamb’s tongue moldings surrounding the ceiling’s four recessed coffers were vital to the facility’s interior decoration. Once the plaster restoration was completed and a decorative sample was approved, a paint scheme was developed to echo the original, decorative painting, gilding, and glazing. Today, the 1913 neoclassical facility will once again inspire visitors and continue its decorative legacy with renewed confidence.

2010 Faith & Form/IFRAA Award for Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception

Dec 22, 2010

Our work on the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Springfield, IL was honored with the 2010 Religious Architecture Award sponsored by Faith & Form magazine and the Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art and Architecture (IFRAA). The awards program honors the best in architecture, liturgical design, and art for religious spaces.

ARCHIE Award for The University of Saint Francis’ Brookside

Dec 15, 2010

The restoration of Brookside, formally the Bass Mansion at the University of Saint Francis earned an ARCHIE Award from the Architecture and Community Heritage Inc. (ARCH) of Fort Wayne.

Distinguished Service Award – Stained Glass Association of America

Jul 7, 2010

The Stained Glass Association of America honors CSS with the Distinguished Service Award for its work to compile, edit and implement the “SGAA Recommendations for Safety in the Stained Glass Studio.”

2010 Historic Preservation Honor Award for the Quad F Theater at Schofield Barracks

Jun 15, 2010

Historic Hawaii Foundation

Conrad Schmitt Studios has received 2010 Historic Preservation Honor Award for the Restoration of the Quad F Theater at Schofield Barracks, Honolulu, Hawaii

2010 AIA Minneapolis Merit Awards – The Mabel Tainter Theater

Jun 8, 2010

The Mabel Tainter Memorial Theater, Center for the Arts, has won one of four 2010 AIA Minneapolis Merit Awards for their recent restoration. Located on Main Street in historic downtown Menomonie, Wisconsin, the Mabel Tainter Memorial Theater is a fully functional Victorian era theater. The Richardsonian Romanesque interior of the theater, built in 1889, has been restored to its original splendor by CSS. Extensive decorative painting to the lavish 313-seat “crown jewel” Victorian theater was the Studio’s contribution to this restoration project. It is another premier example of CSS’s commitment to restoring vintage American theaters with a year round performing arts season featuring nationally recognized artists.

2010 PIPP Award for Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Springfield, IL

Jan 19, 2010

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Springfield, IL has won the 2010 award from The Painting and Decorating Contractors of America (Picture It Painted Professionally Award). – Commercial Restoration Interior

2010 PIPP Award for a Private Residence, Savannah, GA – Residential Restoration Interior

Jan 19, 2010

Conrad Schmitt Studios has won the 2010 award from The Painting and Decorating Contractors of America’s “Picture It Painted Professionally” for a Private Residence in Savannah, GA – Residential Restoration Interior.

Outstanding Achievement Award for Excellence in Safety During 2009

May 5, 2010

Conrad Schmitt Studios, Inc. was the recipient of the Outstanding Achievement Award for Excellence in Safety During 2009. Recognized for outstanding efforts through exemplary job performance to advance safety in Wisconsin at work, home, school and on the highway from the Wisconsin Safety Council and the Department of Workforce Development. Wisconsin is a safer place to live and work due to Conrad Schmitt Studios’ commitment to safety.

2009 Faith & Form Merit Award – Sacred Heart Cathedral, Rochester, NY

Jan 7, 2010

2009 Faith & Form Merit Award for the Renovations and Additions at Sacred Heart Cathedral, Rochester, NY

2008 & 2009 PDCA Safety Award Winner for CSS

Feb 24, 2009

CSS was the recipient of the PDCA SAFETY ACHIEVEMENT AWARD in 2008 and 2009. The Painting and Decorating Contractors of America safety award program was established to recognize the efforts of companies who have made a commitment to safety in the workplace by demonstrating and providing evidence of their success in controlling accidents and losses within their companies.

PDCA recognizes the importance of safety in the workplace and has recently amended its Code of Ethics to include Safety Adherence as a professional obligation.

2008 PIPP Award for St. James Restoration, Louisville, KY

Jan 28, 2008: The restoration of the beautiful St. James Catholic Church, Louisville, KY, which was designed by prominent church architect, James J. Gaffney in 1912 and was originally decorated by the Conrad Schmitt Studios in 1927, has won the 2008 award for “Restoration Interior Commercial” from The Painting and Decorating Contractors of America (Picture It Painted Professionally Award). To restore the scheme with historic accuracy, a comprehensive investigative study determined the original decorative elements and colors used in the 1927 scheme, including 26 paint colors, 7 glaze colors, 3 types of metal leaf, a faux mosaic dome ceiling and extensive trompe l’oeil stencils. After the investigation, Studio artists proceeded with the creation of an onsite decorative sample. This sample helped to propel a fundraising campaign that allowed the parish to make the transformation of the interior a reality. The project was completed in seven months, allowing the parish to celebrate their 100th anniversary in the glory and tradition of their original worship space.

“I want to thank you and the artisans at Conrad Schmitt for the superb restoration of the 1914 Tiffany stained glass windows at Santa Gertrudis. Not only was the restoration executed flawlessly, but the project was completed on time and on budget, accomplishments rarely met in such detailed architectural work. The professionalism of your company and the skills of your craftsmen are unmatched in the restoration business…”

— Bruce S. Cheeseman, Archivist and Historian

“We had almost 200 people come through... all socially distancing, of course! Rave reviews...some were in tears as they walked down the aisle, most in awe and a few said that they felt like they had just gone to heaven. ”

— Rev. Msgr. Steven Brovey, Cathedral of St. John the Baptist Charleston, SC

“I cannot begin to adequately express my appreciation. The restoration of the right side of the mural and recreation of the missing left half, working entirely from photographs, is artistically so well done that one cannot determine which is the recreation.”

— Mary L. Bishop Hawaii Theater Center

“You have made fast friends of us at St. John the Baptist – we will be recommending you and singing your praises to one and all. This has been such a positive experience in every way imaginable. Love and prayers,”

— Fr. Norbert, Pastor St. John the Baptist, Costa Mesa, CA

“You have a wonderful business and are doing so much to protect church treasures…I was impressed with the work ethic of your employees but most of all the spirit generated throughout the entire operation.”

— Libby Kidd, Director of Operations Independent Presbyterian Church Birmingham, AL

“Your interest, willingness to listen, readiness to suggest, and eagerness to excel enthralled our committee and bolstered the courage of its members to move ahead with the work at hand.”

— Fr. Gerald E. Fisher, Pastor, St. Peter’s Parish, Stevens Point, WI

“Just recently we completed the Red Mass…Those are participants who have seen St. Peter’s regularly over the years. Their astonishment and affirmation of the improvements undertaken by yourself and your associates, through the leadership of Father Sherlock and members of his parish, was universal.”

— Most Reverend Oscar H. Lipscomb, Archbishop of Mobile Mobile, AL

“I had thought we would just get our treasured window back as it had been, only more secure. I hadn’t reckoned on its looking so much better, with greater clarity and pieces I’d not noticed before. And it’s not just me—everyone comments on how beautiful it is…From the point of view of the person asking for donations, the widely respected reputation of Conrad Schmitt plus the close association between your church and Grace Church has made my job much easier…Please know that every time we look at that precious window all perfect and restored, we are glad.”

— Jane Henning Grace Episcopal Church, Madison, WI

“We now have had the opportunity to celebrate Easter, Ordinary Time, Advent and Christmas…and continue to be overwhelmed with the fruits of your labors.”

— Pastor John T. Fitzgerald Church of St. Luke Plain, WI

“I just want to say a huge THANK YOU for all the beautiful… no: amazing windows in our chapel! Our three saints (Francis, Clare and Mother Maria Theresia) literally jump out to greet you when you enter the chapel, the images and colors are that vivid. Details are far more visible than I imagined they could be – the windows are simply stunning! The lunettes, too, are “high definition” with figures that convey all the tenderness and joy of the two events they commemorate.”

— Sister M. Anita Holzmer, University of Saint Francis

“Thank you for your personal efforts … to make this project one of the most talked about restorations in New York.”

— Kenneth Hurd, Kenneth E. Hurd & Associates on completion of the Grand Ballroom of New York’s Waldrof-Astoria

“I think what most impressed us was the enormous care that you and your firm took at every step of the process. No detail was overlooked and no aspect of Sacred Heart Church’s history was too insignificant for your study and analysis…Thank you for your talent and skill.”

— Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, C.S.C. Basilica of the Sacred Heart, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN

“The changed liturgical space is not only aesthetically pleasing, it functions better for our worship services. Thank you for assisting us in being faithful to the traditions embodied in our building while at the same time enhancing that space to accommodate the worship needs of the present and, hopefully, of the future.”

— Kay Anderson St. Robert Parish, Shorewood, WI

“The Cathedral has drawn some beautiful attention from the media and has become a new focal point of tours in the Shreveport area. What Conrad Schmitt did to restore and renovate this 78-year-old Gothic structured church into a beautiful Cathedral cannot be expressed in words.”

— Rev. Msgr. Earl V. Provenza, V.F. Cathedral of St. John Berchmans Shreveport, LA