Remembered Light: Glass Fragments from World War II, the McDonald Windows is a collection of 25 art pieces produced by Atelier Le Roux in Oakland, California, using shards of glass from damaged and destroyed European churches collected during World War II by the late US Army Episcopal chaplain Frederick McDonald. McDonald, who served under General Omar Bradley in the 12th Army Group through war-torn Europe, collected shards of stained glass and other mementos from desecrated sanctuary sites he visited from 1944 to 1945 after he first encountered a church in England destroyed by bombing and was heartbroken by the ruins.
August 24, 2022
Remembered Light: Glass Fragments from World War II, the McDonald Windows
More News and Announcements
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06.19.2023
Dave Nemo Show Feature
Bruce McDonald discusses how the Remembered Light project started on The Dave Nemo Show. They discuss finding the "shoe box" of shards, Fred McDonald's initial views on Hitler and how that eventually pushed him to get involved in the war and so much more.
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11.22.2022
WWII Bombed Churches And Synagogues Live On In Art Glass Exhibit
The man in the trenchcoat stood in the ruined church, gazing down at a fallen crucifix, its life-sized image of Jesus broken, bashed and half-covered in rubble. Nearby, a statue of the Virgin Mary, somehow still erect after intense bombing, looked down with the man, her eyes seemingly full of sorrow. It was 1945, and […]
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08.31.2022
Broken Pieces of War-Shattered Windows Repurposed in San Francisco
Stained glass artist Armelle Le Roux installs “Remembered Light,” a stained glass art exhibit made from the window shards of churches bombed in World War II collected by Fred McDonald, then a chaplain in the U.S. Army. LeRoux worked on finishing the installation on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022, in preparation for its opening at the […]