The Stained Glass Windows

The windows were designed by liturgical artist-designer Maureen McGuire

Maureen McGuire who lives in the valley says, "Stained glass creates an atmosphere for worship and puts the congregation in a certain frame of mind."  When it comes to liturgical stained glass, McGuire is the artist whom churches all over the country call upon. In the Valley, her work can be viewed at 99 churches and chapels, as well as numerous private homes and businesses.

"She certainly is one of the nation's top contemporary stained-glass artists," said Joe Lupkin of J.R. Lupkin Designs in Mesa, which assembles and installs McGuire's work. They have been working together for the better part of 20 years, but McGuire was involved with stained glass for 20 years before that.  J.R. Lupkin Designs has been sold to Celeste Johnson and is now called Utopian Stained Glass

McGuire came to stained glass in a roundabout manner. While attending tiny Alfred University in western New York, she was studying art history when she was invited by an Alfred graduate to come to work at a Scottsdale studio. She arrived in Phoenix on June 15, 1963.  "I felt that wave of heat wash over me and thought, 'I was born in the wrong place. I've finally come home,' " she said.

She left the following fall to work on her master's degree at the Pius XII Institute in Florence, Italy, then returned for good. While in Europe, she ran across a new system in Germany under which stained-glass artists were becoming independent contractors.  Within a few years of her return to Phoenix, she quit the Scottsdale studio and went out on her own.

Liturgical art has its own particular demands. Many clients want representational pictures of Christ, for example, with little symbolism.  McGuire prefers to work with rich symbolism, including how she puts together color and line and overall impact.  "My work covers full range, from representational to abstract," she said. "The favored styles of denominations differ, but they seem to be blending. Most traditional places are becoming more contemporary, while the most contemporary places are becoming more traditional."

McGuire does 12 to 14 projects a year, the largest being 4,000 square feet of glass at a Seventh-day Adventist church in Lincoln, Neb.   She also designs church furniture and other artistic elements. Her full range can be seen at here at La Casa de Cristo Lutheran Church.

McGuire starts with detailed drawings, which are transferred to larger displays and finally to exact scale. The large-scale pieces are sent to the fabricator with detailed instructions.  She says artists like herself need to know about various kinds of glass, how it is put together and installed, something about architecture and how a window will fit into a specific space, and the nature of light.  "There is a science to the art," she explains.

The windows were fabricated and installed by Utopian Studios

Utopian Studios, located at 506 E. Juanita Ave., Suite 10, in Mesa, AZ, has been producing the finest quality works of art for customers throughout the United States and abroad since its inception in 1979 as J. R. Lupkin Designs. Specialties include hand-painted and kiln-fired stained glass; faceted one-inch-thick slab glass (dalle de verre) set in epoxy; mosaic feature walls and niche fronts for mausoleums; and restoration and repair work.

Each stained glass window at La Casa de Cristo Lutheran Church in Scottsdale was painted by master painter J. R. Lupkin, who continues to apply his considerable glass painting skills at Utopian Studios whenever needed.

For more information, contact:

Celeste Johnson at Utopian Studios:
www.utopianstudios.com (opens new window)
(480) 926-3340

More about the Stained Glass Windows

The Evangelists Stained Glass Windows on the north side of the Sanctuary
St. Matthew, St. Luke, St. John, and St. Mark

 
The Clerestory Windows - A clerestory, pronounced "clear story," is a wall that has a band of windows along the very top of the wall. These were designed by artist-designer Maureen McGuire.

The Season Windows - These are the larger windows around the top of the Sanctuary, by artist-designer Maureen McGuire.