Austin joined the PRGS team in late 2025 as an install associate, splitting his time between the field and the production studio. After spending nearly a decade in New York pursuing music and working in the service industry, he returned to Mississippi looking for something hands-on, creative, and challenging. Through a few unexpected connections, he found his way to Pearl River Glass Studio.⁠
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What Austin loves most about the work is the constant opportunity to learn. As he puts it, stained glass is “craft within craft,” filled with countless small skills that each require patience and development. “It’s like learning a hundred new instruments at once,” he says. “Seeing yourself grow better at something consistently is a joy unparalleled.”⁠
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Curiosity drives nearly everything he does. Whether in the studio or on-site installations, Austin gravitates toward the unfamiliar, always wanting to understand more and push himself further. His first project at Fondren Church still stands out as especially meaningful, not just because it introduced him to the work itself, but because it confirmed he had found something he genuinely connected with. Also, in Austin’s words: “Working with Bob rocks. I love Bob.”⁠
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Outside the studio, Austin continues to make electronic and dance music, drawing parallels between music production and stained glass. Both require layering skills, collaboration, rhythm, and problem-solving. He also cites Frank Lloyd Wright as a major influence, particularly Wright’s ideas about how spaces shape feeling and human experience, something Austin now thinks about daily while working with stained glass.⁠