A new exhibit, “Remembered Light: Glass Fragments from World War II,” is on display in Zionsville. This unique exhibit features 13 different artists’ work in the form of stained-glass windows. While the windows themselves are breathtaking, there is much more to the pieces and their origins.
During World War II, a U.S. Army chaplain named Fredrick Alexander McDonald found himself being pulled through war-torn Europe. As McDonald traveled from city to city, he was grief-stricken at the sight of so many destroyed synagogues, churches and cathedrals. In a wonderful moment of foresight, McDonald began collecting the fragments of glass from the elaborate stained-glass windows of the cathedrals destroyed in the fighting.
Though hedied in 2003, McDonald’s observations of war and mankind’s dark side have been reborn in the years since. Modern stained-glass artists were brought together and created elaborate images of the fragments’ original cathedrals and towns so they may live on, even if it is only to serve as a reminder of humanity’s destructive nature.
Having been exhibited previously on both coasts, the SullivanMunce Cultural Center is the first location the pieces have been available to view anywhere in the middle of the nation.
Each piece acts to combine art and nature in a way that creates an emotionally-stirring image and tribute to the fragments’ former home, while also acting as a means of World War II education. Many of the churches McDonald visited were involved in areas and moments of the war rarely known to many Americans. From this perspective, the exhibit is not only quite visually striking, but reflective and informative.
“Remembered Light: An Exhibition Featuring Glass Fragments from World War II” will be on display through Memorial Day at the SullivanMunce Cultural Center in Zionsville. Please call 873-6862.
- WHAT:“Remembered Light: Glass Fragments from World War II”
- WHEN: Today through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- WHERE: SullivanMunce Cultural Center (205 W. Hawthorne St., Zionsville)
- COST: Free admission
- INFO: Visit youarecurrent.com
