Brass Light Gallery succeeds with made-to-order products

IN AN AGE of high-speed mass production, Milwaukee’s Brass Light Gallery prefers a 19th-century approach.

Where most inside and exterior lighting fixtures purchased today could carry a tag that says “one of several million,” the products in Brass Light Gallery’s showroom at 131 S. First St. are truly custom made.

Brass Light is the vision of president and founder Stephen Kaniewski, who earned a business administration degree, with a minor in architectural art history, from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His entrepreneurial spark was inspired by chandeliers, wall sconces and lamps in an old Milwaukee movie palace where he once worked as an usher.

Starting with a minimal investment in 1974, Kaniewski has grown a company which now has more than 100 employees, producing made-to-order architectural lighting for a client base throughout the U.S. and overseas.

“Our growth and success come from design integrity and respect for our common architectural heritage, diligence in providing a quality product at a fair value and an ongoing response to the needs or our customers,” says Kaniewski.

Brass Light Gallery’s showroom is an elegantly restored, circa 1860s, building showcasing made-to-order lighting as well as original antique lighting. Brass Light started as a restorer of old light fixtures, which remains one of the company’s several businesses. The second floor vintage/antique lighting department, with outstanding restored originals and side room of fixtures in the rough awaiting restoration, is among the many highlights of a visit.

The made-to-order products on the first floor are designed with an eye to the past and also to durability seldom seen in mass-produced fixtures. No corners are cut in terms of quality and artistry. Interior lighting, for example, offers shades produced exclusively for Brass Light Gallery: glass from France, silk from Italy, alabaster directly from a Spanish quarry.

The company’s collections offer specific product designs: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie School, Neoclassic, rustic, arts & crafts, traditional and contemporary. Every light in every order – from two lights purchased by a homeowner to large orders for restaurants and commercial projects – is produced individually.

Attention to detail also is evident in the company’s manufacturing and shipping facilities. There is no machine-manned assembly line, but a computer-controlled work-flow system ensures that large and small orders are filled on time. When orders are inspected and ready to go, environmentally friendly packing material is used.

More than 80% of the company’s orders come from outside Wisconsin. Earlier this year, a customer from England, who visited previously to purchase interior fixtures, placed an e-mail order for exterior lighting.

Brass Light Gallery’s Showroom Design Center, six blocks south of Wisconsin Avenue where Water Street meets First Street, has become a national destination as the company’s reputation grows among architects, designers and homeowners.

Brass Light Gallery is open from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Wed.-Fri and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat. (by appointment Mon. & Tues.) For additional information, visit www.brasslight.com.