Tower

Stained-glass artist Sarah Hall's "Radiance, Reflection, Revelation," installed in the First Unitarian Congregation of Toronto's church tower and windows, prompted the associate curator of the Royal Ontario Museum, Kempton Corey Keeble, to nominate her for the Jean A. Chalmers Award. The award is granted by The Ontario Art Council.

Of the massive project at First Unitarian, Keeble wrote to the jury: "The scale and scope of the First Unitarian commission are breathtaking -- the glass in First Unitarian's tower represents one of the largest single commissions for stained glass in the central Toronto area.

In scale it compares with the 1915 chancel window of Toronto's Timothy Eaton Memorial Church, and with the post-World War I chancel glass and nave windows of Toronto's Anglican Church of St. Paul, Bloor Street East. (These are among the largest single commissions in Canadian history.) While the First Unitarian glass is uncompromisingly modern and innovative, it blends seamlessly both with the new building in which it has been placed and with the architecture of the surrounding area. It does not compete with its surroundings: It complements them with texture, color, and line.

Successful stained-glass design is always the servant of architecture and its functions. In churches it is also the servant of doctrine and the liturgy. Ms. Hall's glass for First Unitarian Church works in harmony with its surroundings. It is an expression of the essential values of community and cooperation."

Photographs and text from Environment & Art Letter
September 1994, published by
Liturgy Training Publications
1800 North Hermitage Avenue
Chicago IL 60622-1101