Made in Warren, admired everywhere

RISD educated, East Bay-inspired artists are creating furniture that is turning the heads of top designers across the country and around the world

By Christy Nadalin
Posted 12/12/17

Jonathan Glatt and Sara Ossana founded O & G Studio nearly 10 years ago, and almost immediately, their inspired, handmade furniture made a splash with the tastemakers who design the kinds of …

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Made in Warren, admired everywhere

RISD educated, East Bay-inspired artists are creating furniture that is turning the heads of top designers across the country and around the world

Posted

Jonathan Glatt and Sara Ossana founded O & G Studio nearly 10 years ago, and almost immediately, their inspired, handmade furniture made a splash with the tastemakers who design the kinds of spaces that most of us only see through the pages of Elle Decor, Vogue, or The New York Times — just a few of the media outlets which have featured their work.

Mr. Glatt and Ms. Ossana met as RISD graduate students, where he studied jewelry design and she studied interior architecture; both teach furniture design there now. While initially they did do some client-driven commissions, their designs have been their own — including their traditional line, the Warren Chair Works brand, a 30-year old company which they recently brought under the O & G Studio umbrella.

Clean and contemporary, but with a nod to traditional American styles (Ms. Ossana includes the American wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art among her inspirations), O & G's creations are handcrafted to exacting standards and their high quality is unmistakable — even their business card feels pretty indestructible.

Throughout their partnership, Mr. Glatt and Ms. Ossana have done all their work in house, and shared design duties evenly, right up to the process of creating their own unique stains. They come up with their colors organically, inspired by things in their environment that are pleasing to them, from the landscape and the bay, to favorite foods. "We don't have to go far," said Ms. Ossana. "There is so much inspiration here in Rhode Island."

The end result? Unique hues that include kelp and salt marsh, persimmon and oyster — each of which take on a different depth and texture depending on whether the piece is constructed in ash or maple, their principal woods.

Their workshop in Warren's Cutler Mills complex is a cavernous, sunlit space on the ground floor beneath their showroom. It is where the magic happens, in the steady hands of their experienced craftsmen who do everything — including the contouring of each chair seat — entirely by hand. Working for O & G Studio isn't just a job, it begins an apprenticeship in a trade, and ideally, it's got a long horizon. According to Mr. Glatt, It takes about 2 to 3 years to train an apprentice to the point where he or she can produce consistently solid work, though he notes that the opportunity for failure can happen anywhere in production and right up to the point of delivery.

So where do novice apprentices start? "Sanding," said Ms. Ossana. "But it's pretty easy to mess that up too," she added, with a laugh.

Mr. Glatt and Ms. Ossana are happy with the current size of their company and their level of production, which is at an industry standard 6 to 10 weeks, depending on the customization of the order. They are currently filling their largest order to date — some 150 pieces. They have not been told by the designer who the end client is, though they suspect it might be a hotel, as it is for a line that has both commercial and residential appeal.

Their Cutler Mills showroom, upstairs from their workshop, has always welcomed retail clients by appointment, although it is not as visible as you might expect from a brand that has graced every Tommy Hilfiger flagship store worldwide and furnished the national headquarters of Facebook, Instagram, and Air B&B. Looking to create that local visibility, O & G has opened a retail showroom in Barrington, at 40 Maple Avenue, and they are having a public opening this Saturday, Dec. 16, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

"It's a beautiful space," said Mr. Glatt. "We are looking forward to having a local presence and showing our work to people in the community."

Sara Ossana, Jonathan Glatt, O & G Studio

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