Quilts for a cause

Handmade Quilted Works by artist Frances Swiggett

The stained glass window dedicated to former pastor

Dr. Thomas J. Brown, installed and dedicated in 1910.

 

Welcome To Westminster Presbyterian Church

Westminster Presbyterian Church in Utica, New York houses one of the finest collections of Tiffany stained glass windows in the country. Built in 1854, the church’s majestic architecture is complimented beautifully by the windows. Eleven magnificent stained glass windows filter light into the sanctuary. Six windows now hang in the adjoining chapel.

Seven windows in the main sanctuary were designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany, regarded as the greatest American stained glass artist.  The Chapel windows are from The Bavarian Stained Glass Institute in Munich, and designed by F.X. Zettler.

Several years ago the church began a multi-year project to clean and restore all of the stained glass windows. Much of the funding for this expensive project has already been raised from the congregation. Funds are now needed to complete the preservation work on the stained glass windows in the chapel, and to create an endowment fund that will support preservation of these important windows well into the future.

To help with this effort, local artist Frances Swiggett donated a significant number of handmade quilts and quilted wall hangings to the church. The sale of these unique works of art will support the ongoing window preservation project. Each quilted work of art is hand-made, and will become an heirloom. Donations to acquire one of these quilted pieces are tax-deductible, and all monies will be added to the Stained Glass Memorial Window Fund.  

Tours of the sanctuary and chapel to view the windows can be arranged by contacting the church office at 315-732-6518 or tours@quilts4acause.com .

Stained glass has been important in religious expression for centuries, dating back at least to the fourth century. In the middle ages, theologians built on Plato’s theory that truth and beauty were one, and reasoned that beauty cannot be perceived without light; therefore truth owes its radiance and power to light as well. If light is a gift from God, then the relationship between light and stained glass could be compared to the relationship between the soul and the body.  Stained glass is viewed by some as the most Christian of all of the arts due to the almost mystical nature of light flowing through the colored windows.