Remembered light: windows to a war

NEWS RELEASE

THE FREDERICK A. McDONALD TRUST

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McDonald windows exhibition incorporates stained glass shards collected from church ruins during World War II

SAN FRANCISCO - Artists from Europe and the U.S. have created windows that incorporate shards of stained glass collected by U.S. Army Chaplain Frederick A. McDonald at damaged and destroyed European churches in 1944-45.

These art pieces form a traveling exhibition, “Remembered Light: Glass Fragments from World War II. The McDonald Windows.”

It opens at the Presidio Officers’ Club in San Francisco on January 24.

From 1999 until his death in 2002, the Rev. McDonald collaborated with principal artist and project manager Armelle Le Roux to envision the McDonald Windows.

He wanted these beautiful works of art “to serve as a memorial to the places they were found and offer hope for lasting peace.”

In all, 13 artists created 25 “windows” in diverse media including ceramic, silk screen, vinyl, copper, and glass.

Their work takes a range of forms and dimensions, varying from a 9 x 14-inch glass book, its shard from an unknown site, by Le Roux, the principal artist and project manager, to a 41 x 30-inch crown of thorns created in antique glass by Narcissus Quagliata, with shards from the Cathedral of St. Stephen, Metz, France.

For additional information about the work, click here.

“Our family is proud to fulfill the wish of my great Uncle Wick, as we affectionately called him as children, and bring these bits of glass back to light as a memorial exhibit for all to see,” said nephew Bruce McDonald, a San Francisco restaurateur.

Chaplain McDonald served in General Omar Bradley’s 12th Army Group from August 1944 until the end of World War II, after which he taught at Biarritz Army University.

His pastoral vocation took Seattle-born Rev. McDonald around the world.

The exhibition will travel following its San Francisco opening; venues and dates have not yet been finalized.

Fundraising is underway for a $6-million expansion and endowment of the Presidio Main Post Interfaith Chapel, where the McDonald Windows will be permanently installed.

This new wing will add “stature and interest to an already beautiful sacred space,” said the Rev. Paul Chaffee, Chapel Director.

“Remembered Light” is open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., through April 15, 2007, at the Presidio Officers’ Club, 50 Moraga Avenue, San Francisco.

The Presidio, in continuous use as a military post from 1776 to 1994, is now a 1,491-acre national park site.

Photo caption

This 12x24-inch art piece by German-born artist Imigard Steding, which includes small shards from the Cathedral de Notre Dame, Coutances, France, is part of the McDonald Windows exhibition.

Chaplain Frederick McDonald, who collected the shards at the end of World War II, recalled, "The cathedral in Coutances was the first great Gothic church we saw in our Army advance.

" It was famous for the 'dim religious light' of its sparkling windows.

"Blasting bombs had shattered every one, and the interior was bright under the August sun.

"This made the architectural excellence more plainly seen since it was first built 700 years ago."

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