Remembered Light

Seven pieces of the McDonald Windows stained glass exhibit will be making their way to the Memorial Art Gallery at the University of Rochester this October as part of a display titled “Memory Theater 2013,” which will explore “how memory shapes both personal and cultural identities, and the ways in which museums function as ‘memory theatres.’” These beautiful artworks were created by stained glass artist Armelle LeRoux and colleagues from fragments of stained glass windows in Europe destroyed during World War II. The fragments were gathered by U.S. Army Chaplain Frederick Alexander McDonald during 1944 and 1945, as he traveled through the war zone. For 55 years, the fragments were stored away until, in 1999, LeRoux and her artist friends undertook the McDonald Peace Windows Project. The windows were completed in 2007, but plans are still being developed to create a permanent home for the display as part of the proposed expansion of the Presidio Chapel, home of the Interfaith Center at the Presidio.
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In the meantime, the windows have been displayed at the Officers Club at the Presidio, Washington State History Museum in Tacoma, The Arthur Ross Gallery at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Sullivan Munce Cultural Center in Zionsville, IN. On the ICP website, you can find a gallery of photos of the windows, along with their stories, and more about Chaplain McDonald and Armelle LeRoux. You can also take a look at more about the history of the Chapel and the hopes for the restoration project here.