Thank you for wanting to learn more about our stained glass project! Here you will find a digital copy of our prayer book, the current status of each window, and other Q&A.
To see the artwork showing the designs for all ten windows, and the spiritual meaning behind them, please click on "Walking With Peter."
Currently, the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 9th windows are available for families or groups to sponsor as a gift to the parish community. (Marked in red on the diagram below.)
The windows in white have already been sponsored (windows 2, 3, 8 & 10). Please click on the image below to see a bigger view.
When our church was built in 2006, the intention was to one day fill the clear windows with stained glass. In September 2020, we formed a small committee to explore the possibility. The committee interviewed several traditional stained-glass studios, and chose Redfern Art Studio. Over the course of several months, the committee brainstormed themes and gradually worked with the artist to come up with these designs. At this time, we are trying to share the concepts with the parish and see whether there is interest in moving forward.
Carl Fougerousse is a Catholic artist who lives in Savannah with his wife and four children. A graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville, he owns a small studio that specializes in stained glass and other forms of sacred art for Catholic parishes. The committee was very impressed by the beauty of his work, his understanding of Catholic art, and the faith-filled way he approaches his work. Carl is the creator of these initial designs, and he is also the one who would create our windows with the help of his team.
When Carl begins work on a particular window, he creates a full-size drawing and makes greater refinements, using live models in costume to capture nuances in faces, hands, and clothing. The actual glass will have more color and richness than can be depicted by watercolor painting. You can see an example of one of his finished windows here, as well as on his website.
This project will be dependent on families coming forward to gift a window to our parish community, in thanksgiving to God or in memory of a loved one. Each window will have an engraved plaque at its base. For example, one couple is gifting the eighth window to the parish in honor of their son, an artist who loved stained glass. If the parish supports the project, the first window could be installed in a couple of months, and additional windows could arrive every five weeks or so.
Parishes typically find that there is a lot of enthusiasm for stained glass. Sometimes, families or parish organizations team up to sponsor a window together. Please help spread the word, and if it is God’s will, he will open the door for the windows to become a reality.
We will be keeping our current clear windows as they are. These are impact-resistant windows built according to the building codes of our county. The stained glass will be built in a new frame on the inside of these clear windows. So for example, if a vandal were to heave a brick at one of our windows, the brick would bounce off the clear exterior window panel, leaving the stained glass on the inside unharmed.
Our windows are each 33 square feet, and stained glass is an expensive form of art, both in materials and the labor. The glass is hand-blown and imported from Europe, and each window represents hundreds of hours of careful work. As a result, the cost to gift one of these ten windows is $40,000, which covers the design, fabrication, installation, and all other aspects. Beautiful sacred art is like a sermon for the eyes, touching minds and hearts in a way that words alone cannot. These windows will inspire parishioners and visitors to our church for generations to come.
Yes. In other parishes, it has been common for a few families to team up, or for neighborhoods or for parish organizations to join together to gift a window. The memorialization would follow one of the patterns described below.
A window would be reserved for a particular family or group as soon as the office receives a check for either the full $40,000 or at least a 50% downpayment of $20,000. In the latter case, the remainder would be due prior to the window's creation. We cannot verbally reserve a window; if different families or groups were interested in gifting a particular window, the window would be considered sponsored according to the check that was received first.
Here is an example from Saint Mary Help of Christians in Aiken:
Our church also contains 32 square windows at the top of the church (clerestory windows). If the other windows are filled with stained glass, we might explore creating stained glass for these smaller windows. If so, they would each feature a more simple symbol or design, with decorative elements that match the tops of the ten vertical windows.
Please contact our parish manager, Willard Fosberry, at 843-522-6501 or at parishmanager@stpetersbeaufort.org. He would be happy to answer any of your questions, or talk to you about Notre Dame football!