Lansing Catholic High School

LANSING, MICHIGAN
April 2016 - Custom Art Glass

Lansing Catholic High School is blessed to have such beautiful stained-glass windows to inspire our students as they gather for prayer in our new St. John Paul the Great Chapel. We are so grateful for Richard Hanley and his team of artists at Omnibus Studios for their wonderful craftsmanship and intricate designs. The stained-glass windows are truly masterpieces.

Tom Maloney, president of Lansing Catholic High School.
(April 2016). Diocese of Lansing [1]

In April 2016, our team completed a custom art glass project for Lansing Catholic High School’s St. John Paul the Great Chapel. In total, the project included 19 windows throughout the chapel’s newly constructed interior [1]. Due to the scope of work and a limited budget, our team recognized early on that it was going to be difficult to deliver the level of detail that our client had envisioned. In the end, the real story behind these windows was the rally of generosity by the community at Lansing Catholic High School, who funded the project with all of the 19 windows paid for by individual donors including parents & grandparents of students, school staff, and even our studio contributing to support the project.

Among the list of donors was the president of Lansing Catholic High School, Tom Maloney. The Maloney family donated the rose window in the back of the chapel depicting an image of the holy spirit as a dove. This window is one of our favorites from over the years as it has a unique placement on the west side above the baptismal font at the main entrance of the chapel, when the lighting is right the window casts a reflection onto the surface of the flowing water symbolizing the movement of the holy spirit.

Another key feature of the chapel is a set of nine windows along the northern wall featuring life-size depictions of noteworthy Catholic saints including the chapel’s namesake, John Paul II. The vision for these windows was to create a series of realistic imagery to illustrate the unique lives of the saints as role models for the students who would frequent the chapel. Many of the key elements in these windows were hand painted using the ancient techniques that our studio is known for. Through subtle and distinct background imagery each window illustrates key moments in the lives of these saints and importantly delivers on the known original purpose of stained glass: to educate through illuminated images & symbols the stories and mysteries of God [2]. In an article for the Lansing State Journal, president of the school Tom Maloney said: “It really creates a beautiful, sacred space with the ability to teach students about our faith… the depictions give students the opportunity to learn about the saints who walked the path of faith before them.” [3]

With so many of the students and their families donating to the project, the school decided to check in on us with a field trip to our studio in New Era. Students were able to see their windows being built in real-time by our craftsmen. To further connect the school community to the project, there was a special event where families who donated to the project could meet lead artist and founder of Omnibus Studios, Richard E. Hanley, who had been prepped to sign photos of the specific window that they helped donate.