“The USC Caruso Catholic Center Church: Stained Glass Windows from Conception to Installation” is the focus of a new exhibit at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.

The new USC Caruso Catholic Center, Church of Our Savior, includes 19 stained glass windows. The exhibition at the Cathedral showcases the unique stages of design, production and installation, which incorporated the important use of modern technology along with traditional craftsmanship techniques established over past centuries.

After initial small scale over-all designs were drawn by hand for each window, the larger and more detailed finished designs were created in the computer using photo stills as points of departure. The photos were collaged, manipulated and drawn upon using a stylus, thereby maintaining the hand crafted nature of the work. The full-scale drawings were printed from these computer drawings. All of this is unlike prior traditionally produced designs which were drawn, colored, and enlarged to scale on full size paper.

“Therefore, unlike in the past, normal extensive design time was reduced considerably by the use of the computer,” explained Prof. Ronald E. Steen, art historian & art educator, and exhibit curator. “The photo stills in the computer better registered the weight, folds and lighting of fabric, the textures of nature and objects.

“In addition, light filled colors could be produced in the computer, which came closer to matching pre-existing colored glass that allowed for a better understanding of what the finished window would actually look like when put in place and with natural light streaming through the window.”

Seventeen of the 19 windows were designed by Judson Studios, Los Angeles. The other two — “The Rose Window” (yet to be crafted and installed) and “The Creation Window — were designed by Gayle Garner Roski and Ruth Weisberg, respectively, who are both of the USC Art Department as well as the Cathedral Fine Arts Committee, which presents the exhibit (running through Oct. 26).

 Eighteen windows were crafted and installed by Judson Studios, under the direction of David Judson, president. The windows — in production from 2008-13 — total 2,408 square feet of hand-painted colored glass.