Kessler Studios Stained Glass & Mosaics- St. Columban West Sanctuary Windows

Peru State College - "Seasons of the Campus"
(Artwork #153)
Peru, Nebraska

Size: 56” high x 51” long x 2” deep, each.

Four stained glass windows were created for the western wall of the library. Each panel represents a season of the year: Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. The windows are displayed in order, from left to right.

Design concepts are given with the detailed views, below.

"Winter"

This design speaks of Peru’s campus after a fresh snowfall. Visual forms are softened, simplified, creating a sense of calm and stillness. With the drab colors of the sleeping earth hidden beneath a blanket of white, the landscape is transformed into something fresh and new. The once familiar campus is viewed with a “new vision.” The blue of the sky is seen as more intense, simply because of its contrast to the white. The flutter of a redbird is no longer lost to the visual clutter of bare branches, but instead becomes a visual delight, a dance of red movement boldly displayed against the field of white. The wind sends snowflakes spiraling high into the air, letting them fall like fairy dust when the game is done. All of these things are woven within this window design.

"Spring"

The drab "neutrals of winter," the brown forms in the design, give way to the spring colors of pink and green. Spring green is a light and delicate shade, used here in forms that suggest the vulnerable emergence of fragile shoots rising out of the earth. There is a new warmth in the air and the scent is sweet. Everywhere, windows are opened wide to catch the gentle breeze. Opened windows are represented by the placement of rectangular shapes in the overall design, with white at the top, signifying a window with the sash pulled down.

"Summer"

Summer is a time of relative inactivity on campus. Although conferences are held, the vibrant student body has gone home. Their divergent paths are represented by the white wisps. The warm, sunny days are long, signified by the prominent gold rectangle in the design. The landscape is rich with diverse shades of green, represented in the design by the abstract forms of "trees and shrubs," growing well in the radiance of the nurturing "sun." The lazy days of summer are marked by the blooming sequence of the many flowers on campus. One by one they reveal the passage of time. The Daylilies start summer with their yellows and oranges. Later the Spirea blooms pink and the Coneflowers offer purple. By the time the Black Eyed Susans are in their full glory, the students have returned and the campus is alive with activity. The progression of the floral blooms is represented by the colorful strip of glass that runs from the top of the window to the bottom. Each layer of color eases into the next, just as the colors of summer drift one into the next.

"Fall"

Peru State College is known as the "Campus of a Thousand Oaks." In this window those oaks stand tall against the colors of the setting sun, because fall is the time when the earth is preparing for her long winter slumber. The colors of the setting sun are rich and bold, as are the colors of autumn leaves. The large white area at the bottom of the design, open except for the tree trunks, is suggestive of a path that runs unbroken all the way around the rest of the design elements in the window. School has just started and the demands of scholastic life are intensifying. Stress is building, but just outside the door is a sensory delight proven to ease the tensest heart. It is the path across campus; it is the trail in the woods nearby. Slow your pace, take time to really feel the crunch of the leaves under your feet, to smell the moist earth, to enjoy the crisp autumn air. You will learn much while at Peru State College, but one of life's most important lessons is learning to "slow the motion" and appreciate the little things around you. May your heart be open to the teachings of autumn, they will compliment your college education well.

Kessler Studios, Inc.
273 East Broadway St.
Loveland, OH 45140-3121 USA
Phone: 513-683-7500
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