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Commissioning a Stained Glass Installation

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This article gives helpful advice for planning or commissioning a stained glass work, describing the process that might be used and important decisions that need to be made by both the artist and the commissioning congregation.

Stained glass, from its origins, has been an integral element of church architecture because of its inherently dynamic qualities. While it stimulates our visual senses, it stirs us emotionally toward a more reverential sensitivity, encouraging introspection and contemplation. Stained glass complements the liturgical action by infusing the place and people with a heightened sense of purpose.

However, like all aspects of building or renovation, the successful use of stained glass depends on careful and thoughtful planning. These notes will focus on the steps involved in commissioning stained glass work rather than aesthetic or stylistic considerations.

The Parish Team

A committee or task force for procuring stained glass should be formed early in the design of the project to work with the building team and the parish as a whole. This group is best comprised of a member of the building or renovation committee, the architect, the pastor or a representative, and several interested parishioners who reflect the diversity of the congregation but who are also knowledgeable in the arts. Five to seven members is a good size. This team is then charged with the selection of the artist or team of artists, with design review, parish communication, and cost control. (Editor’s note: We would encourage parishes to include an art consultant on the overall building/renovation committee. This person would also be included on the task force dealing with stained glass.)

The committee should begin by learning at least a bit of the history of stained glass and by visiting stained glass installations in the area to familiarize themselves with the scope of the medium. Then they are ready to determine the role of stained glass in their building. Important factors are:

  • Purpose: e.g., to express ideas, beliefs, feelings
  • Light: e.g., aesthetic effect, control, level of brightness, emphasis, color
  • Effect: e.g., quiet, calm, meditative, exciting, dynamic, joyful
  • Expression: e.g., realistic, symbolic, abstract
  • Style: e.g., attitude toward traditional or contemporary

Artist/Studio Selection

The committee can go to an independent artist/designer, or to a studio with a staff artist/designer. There are arguments to be made for either. The committee should consider both possibilities. Sources for learning about possible candidates include the architect, other churches, local arts organizations, and national organizations such as SGAA and IFRAA.

Initially, the committee should request from each candidate a brochure describing the person’s work, slides, and photos, a resume with references, and a list of previous commissions. By reviewing these materials, the committee can reduce the number of candidates to a manageable few. Each of these should then be invited for an interview. At the interview, the committee and the artist view and discuss the artist’s work; the committee shares with the artist their thoughts about the parish’s project, about the process, and possibly about the concept. The committee should inquire about costs, insurance, length of time for design and production, background and experience of any other persons who would be involved through the artist.

This selection of an artist should be made as soon as possible after the schematic (preliminary) design of the building or renovation so that the artist/designer can collaborate with the architect during the further development of the design. This allows for a high degree of integration between stained glass and the building itself.

Contracting the Artist

After the selection of the artist or studio, the relationship between the artist/studio and the parish (owner/client) should be set down in a contract. A complete contract usually involves the following:

  • Well-defined scope of services to be performed by the artist/studio
  • Description of the work and responsibilities involved in performing the scope of services
  • The work schedule and temporal conditions of the work’s performance
  • The cost/fee for the contracted work and an explicit payment schedule
  • Any terms or conditions that are peculiar to the project

The Design Process

The stained glass design process begins with a contract that commissions the artist. (Note that sometimes people suggest that the artist be selected by means of competitive [and unpaid] design submissions. This begins the design process before the artist is a member of the team and thus removes the possibility of productive interaction between the artist and other team members. The result of such competitions is often inferior art, and the whole process is unfair to the artists who are not selected.)

The first phase of the design process begins with meetings between the committee and the artist to share perceptions of the role stained glass will play in the project. The artist then initiates preliminary designs for the committee’s consideration. This process does not imply that the committee tells the artist how to design. Rather, the shared impressions and the interaction help the artist to become more sensitive to the character and personality of the community being served.

From these discussions, the artist prepares the final designs, preferably in a transparent form so that the effects of transmitted light are better understood. It is also beneficial if the artist provides a sample panel, or prototype, that demonstrates the materials and techniques that are proposed for use in the windows.

Upon approval of the final design, the committee’s work is essentially complete, although visits to the studio during production may be warranted and helpful. The success of the installed windows is, to a great extent, the result of the work of parishioners and building team members through their involvement in the early phases of the process.

Stained Glass in the Worship Space

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One medium of art that has been almost exclusively associated with Christian churches is that of stained glass. Some basic considerations regarding stained glass are mentioned here.

Light. In the beginning, God created light. Since that time, it has been a source of fascination. Such fascination has been important in the art forms of Christian places, so much so that a prime criterion for judging the success of a religious building has been the way in which light enters the spaces. The craft of the glassmaker thus has its important place.

Glass. We marvel at the wonderful ways stained glass plays with light. Glass is thought to have been invented by accident; Phoenician sailors found glass-like remains in the embers of their beach fires over five thousand years ago. Glass was long considered a precious material, used in molded vases, mosaic tile, beads, and imitations of gems. Glass was not used for glazing windows until 1500 years ago, and the earliest evidence of such window glass is in buildings for worship.

Colored glass originated from our ancestors’ inability to make clear glass. Such glass is not really “stained”; the colors come from metal oxides fused to or suspended in the glass while it is liquid. “Art glass” is a more appropriate term today, one which can refer also to clear glass that has been acid-etched, beveled, engraved, sandblasted, or textured. These are all ways to modulate the quality of light refracted through the glass surface. Color is only one of the qualities available to the artist working in glass.

Between the Glass Pieces. The materials which hold the glass pieces together must also be carefully chosen. Since medieval times, lead channels have been in common use. In the last 100 years, glass fabrication methods have changed; copper, foil, epoxy, and zinc are now used as structural members.

Cost. The cost of art glass is generally determined by its size (square feet being the unit of measure). Price varies according to the types of glass used, the way it is held together, and the installation conditions. More significantly, the intricacy of the design and the number of glass pieces per square foot are primary cost determinants. Art glass suitable for a worship space typically ranges from $75 to $150 per square foot, not including the window frames and installation. For glass with painted figures of scenes, the median price is between $200 and $350 per square foot.

Collaboration. In church building and renovation, it is important that the architect, artist, and fabricator work together to explore all the design possibilities. Working with the parish representative, this team enhances the likelihood of a compatible marriage of the art glass to the architecture.

Images Associated with the Manifestation of the Holy in Biblical Worship

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The awesome experience of God cannot be reduced to scientific or even to conceptual language; it can only be suggested by word pictures. In Scripture the imagery of light, fire, earthquake, and storm are often associated with the manifestation of the holy. These are characteristic biblical features of divine “theophanies,” or appearances of God.

Imagery of Light and the Holy

Light is a favorite biblical image of the presence of the Lord. The Psalms, for example, are filled with expressions such as “the Lord is my light” (Ps. 27:1), “in your light we see light” (Ps. 36:9), and “God … make his face shine upon us” (Ps. 67:1). Celebrating the covenant judgment of the Lord, the psalmist Asaph declares, “From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth.… a fire devours before him” (Ps. 50:2–3). Such symbolism pervades the Old Testament. Expelling Adam from the garden, Yahweh stations a twisting, flaming sword to guard the way to the tree of life (Gen. 3:24). Making a covenant with Abraham, God appears to him in a flaming torch (Gen. 15:17). In the desert, Yahweh speaks to Moses from the midst of a bush glowing like fire (Exod. 3:2). At the dedication of Solomon’s temple, the priests “could not stand to minister” but fell prostrate before the cloud of glory that manifested the Lord’s presence (1 Kings 8:11 nasb). The prophet Amos warns the covenant people to seek the Lord, “lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph” (Amos 5:6 rsv). Ezekiel beholds the court of the temple “full of the radiance of the glory of the Lord,” the brilliant envelope of his presence (Ezek. 10:4). He sees the glory going up toward the east, deserting the temple and the city (Ezek. 11:23) because of their unfaithfulness and idolatry. Later, he envisions the return of the glory, as the Lord reestablishes his dwelling among the covenant people (Ezek. 43:1–9).

Similar imagery is found in the New Testament. At the Transfiguration, Jesus appears to the disciples in brilliant light (Matt. 17:2). At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit comes upon the apostolic church, accompanied by “tongues of fire” (Acts 2:3). Saul, persecutor of the church, is struck down by a blinding light on the road to Damascus and hears a voice he recognizes as the Lord’s (Acts 9:3–4). Writing later to the Corinthians, he reminds them that the Creator of light “made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). The author of Hebrews, urging an approach of reverence and awe, quotes Deuteronomy 4:24, “Our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29). The apostle John, exiled to Patmos, upon being addressed by a loud voice, turns to see “one like a son of man,” standing amid seven golden lampstands, a figure whose head glows whiter than wool or snow, whose eyes “were like a blazing fire,” whose feet were like brass glowing in a furnace, whose face was “like the sun shining in all its brilliance” (Rev. 1:12–16).

Although “light” is a metaphor for intellectual understanding, light itself does not contain information. “God is light,” wrote the apostle John, “in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). But what is revealed by this light? The light does not reveal much about God, but it reveals much about the worshiper. “Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God” (John 3:20–21). The radiance of the numinous exposes our sin, but it hides the Holy One. We do not stare at light bulbs, or at the sun, expecting to learn anything; but we receive information from what these sources illuminate. In the same way, the light of the holy reveals what it shines on, but it conceals its own source. The radiant and glorious God remains an impenetrable mystery, “the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see” (1 Tim. 6:15–16).

“Show me your glory” Moses prayed on the holy mountain (Exod. 33:18). And the Lord answered, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion”—ideograms for his love and faithfulness in upholding the covenant—“but you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live” (Exod. 33:19–20). Then the Lord offered to place Moses in a crevice in the rock, shielding him from his glory as he passed by. “Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen” (Exod. 33:23). The God who is worshiped in Scripture gives the revelation of his truth at his own initiative but hides the workings of his own being behind the envelope of his radiance. The holy is the revealed yet the unrevealed.

Imagery of Theophany

Scholars use the term theophany to denote an appearance or manifestation of God. When the Holy One appears to his worshipers, symbolic language must be used to describe the experience. The Bible employs a conventional vocabulary to describe such events, incorporating symbolism drawn not only from light or fire (as discussed in the previous section), but also from other natural phenomena such as the earthquake or the electrical storm. The theophanic imagery of the Sinai covenant and of Elijah’s confrontation with the Lord have already been mentioned. The same symbolism occurs often in the context of worship to convey the awesome and overpowering sense of the presence of the numinous. We encounter it, for example, in Isaiah’s vision in the temple (Isa. 6:1–13)—the altar fires, the flaming seraphs (in Hebrew, literally “burning ones”), the sanctuary filled with smoke, the thunder of the Lord’s voice, which shakes the foundations. Ezekiel beholds the Lord’s throne coming in wind, cloud, fire, and glowing metal (Ezek. 1:4), and the prophet Joel’s description of the “day of the Lord” incorporates the trumpet, clouds, darkness, and fire (Joel 2:1–3). The Psalms, especially, place theophany in the context of Israel’s worship. An example is Psalm 97:2–5:

Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Fire goes before him and consumes his foes on every side. His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth.

Other psalms containing the same phenomena include Psalm 18:7–14 and Psalm 104:3–4, 32.

Theophanic imagery is also found in the New Testament, especially in the context of judgment. In Matthew 24:27–31, Jesus portrays the coming of the Son of Man with lightning, darkness, the shaking of the powers of heaven, clouds, and the sound of a great trumpet. John’s vision of the throne of the Creator (Rev. 4:1–5) incorporates the trumpet, lightning, thunder, and fire. The revelation of the ark of the covenant in the temple of God is accompanied by lightning, thunder, earthquake, and hailstorm (Rev. 11:19), and John depicts the Lord’s judgment on Babylon with lightning, thunder, and earthquake (Rev. 16:18). As in the Old Testament, aspects of the composite pictorialization (in addition to light and fire) sometimes appear by themselves. In John 12:29 a voice from heaven comes as thunder. Acts 4:23–31 records an assembly of the apostles, stating that when they prayed together “the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” (v. 31). Such biblical imagery is a conventional way of indicating that God has made his presence known to his gathered community in the accomplishment of some purpose such as instruction, deliverance, or especially judgment. The language of theophany is employed to point to that numinous experience of the presence of God which cannot be adequately conveyed in human speech. We should probably understand speaking in tongues, or unintelligible speech, as an attempt to accomplish the same end.