Wells Vissar Inc.

Wells Vissar Inc. began nearly three decades ago when two young art college graduates developed a passion for Italian scagliola, an architectural flourish of in-lay and elegance that had been lost to time.

It was 1985 when Kathleen Vissar and Amy Wells, both graduates of Moore College of Art in Philadelphia, PA,  worked with a company that was contracted to craft the columns for the Benjamin Franklin State Dining Room in Washington DC.  The project called for using scagliola, creating material indistinguishable from marble using industrial plasters and silk.

That project was the inspiration, and the beginning. Kathy and Amy launched Wells Vissar in 1993.

Since that time, Kathy’s artistic vision, master skills and years of experimentation have led Wells Vissar to redefine the possibilities of scagliola and fancy plaster with architectural elements that can be bold, ethereal and classical or whimsically contemporary.

Today Wells Vissar is a group of artisans and artists collaborating each day to execute the design wishes of its clients.

After years of promoting and demonstrating scagliola’s beauty and versatility, Wells Vissar sees a new curiosity and excitement in its work. From the contemporary to the classical, Wells Vissar’s has been called on to help enhance and elevate and define interior spaces.

Our group has just helped reimagine the iconic Tavern on the Green restaurant in New York City with an intricate 20-foot fireplace and a 40-foot cook line facade.  But we are also in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, where we were commissioned by the 18th Century Department of European Decorative Arts and Sculpture to create authentic table tops for gold leaf table bases they owned.

This is all part of our underlying mission – to spread the word of scagliola’s unique beauty and versatility.

While scagliloa was itself pioneered in Europe,  all our raw materials are produced in the USA and  all our work is done exclusively in our studio in Philadelphia, PA. USA.