Windows to Learning: A Stained Glass Experience

1
Windows to Learning A Stained Glass Experience

• Mrs. Amy McCabe
• Batesville High School
• Drawing/Painting and Advanced Art Classes

2
Batesville High School Batesville, IN
Batesville straddles Ripley and Franklin counties
in southeastern Indiana - falling in the triangle
between Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Louisville.
We are home to Hillenbrand Industries
Batesville Caskets and Hill-Rom Hospital
Furniture. The rural community boasts many
family dairy and hog farms and is near shiny
riverboat casinos.
We have tremendous community support for the arts
in Batesville Rural Alliance for the Arts and
its Arts in Education program, the Rockwood
Foundation, and the Hillenbrand Foundation all
provide financial support and organizational
resources.
3
Batesville High School Batesville, IN

Batesville High School has just under 700
students in grades 9-12 and 40 teachers. We run
a modified block schedule, meeting for 85 minutes
each day for 4 1/2 weeks per academic
quarter. The Art department consists of 1
full-time teacher and 1 teacher who is shared
with our Primary School.
Art courses offered are Introduction to Art,
Drawing/Painting, Advanced Art, AP Studio Art,
Art History, Ceramics, and Advanced Ceramics.
4
Objectives

• Experience the artist/client relationship as
  students design a commissioned piece.
• Design site-specific artwork with a visiting
  artist.
• Transfer previous mastery of color and shape to a
  different medium.
• Promote visual arts around our school building

5
Materials Needed

• Design Stage Drawing paper, pencils, colored
  chalk or markers, permanent marker, tracing
  paper, visual references, T-square
• Glass Cutting Stage Stained Glass, Running
  Pliers, Grozing pliers, Glass cutters, glass
  grinder, Plywood board, masking tape
• Soldering Stage Copper foil, Flux, Tin solder,
  Soldering Irons, Zinc Channel for edges (opt.)
• Safety Items Safety Glasses REQUIRED! Lots of
  Band-Aids, too!

Indiana Standards 1,3,4,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 Nationa
l Standards 1,2,3,4,5
6
The Process
7
Select Sites and Groups

• I emailed school staff to solicit window sites.
  We have a waiting list a few years long.
• Students chose their own workgroups and were
  randomly assigned to classrooms.
• The freedom and responsibility of choosing
  teammates worked for and against the students
  essential, authentic skill development.

8
Client Meeting

• They next met with the class teacher to gather
  client expectations classroom-specific subject
  matter, teacher-specific subject ideas, color and
  style preferences, etc.
• Through these meetings, students quickly learned
  that some clients are very specific in their
  request, but others allow more artistic
  expression.

9
Assemble Visual File

• Students assembled a visual file in their
  sketchbooks of potential reference images.
  Multiple views of all objects were expected.
• This homework assignment required all students
  participation and provided the foundation for
  collaboration.

10
Preliminary Design

• Students next met with a local painter and former
  graphic designer who guided them through the
  realities of balancing client satisfaction with
  good design.

11

• I gave them a crash course on what types of
  shapes and lines are realistic for stained glass
  and they adapted their colored drawings
  appropriately.
• Keep it simple became the motto as they were
  forced to stylize and develop a new visual
  vocabulary for this new medium.

12
Client Approval

• Once preliminary designs were complete, students
  met with their teacher for approval or changes to
  the plan.

13
Scale Drawing and Tracing

• Final designs were drawn to the EXACT dimensions
  of the final piece onto white roll paper.
• Lines of glass planes were outlined in black
  Sharpie.

14

• Color was added to give a general indication for
  reference.

15

• This paper was taped to a larger plywood board
  which had been fitted with squaring rules.
• Students traced the design, piece by piece, onto
  a tracing paper overlay.

16
Cutting glass is very easy for high school
students. Cutting glass accurately is not so
easy
17
Cutting and Grinding

• For practice, students first cut out 2-3 pieces
  for a practice project I designed for our local
  arts auction.
• They learned that they need to cut the tracing
  paper neatly, trace it exactly, cut carefully,
  and grind it until it is perfect!

18

• We went through lots of glass learning how
  NOT to break with pliers and used up a grinder
  bit learning why it is easier to cut accurately
  than to grind a lot later.

19
Clean and tape down glass

• Students took these lessons to heart as they
  worked in groups selecting appropriate panes and
  cutting and them and grinding to fit.

20

• Each pane should be cleaned before taping it in
  place.
• The most successful groups started in the square
  corner and worked their way out, taping their
  panes together as they fit them. This minimized
  shifting while they worked.
• Each day, students had to stack up their work
  boards in the back of the room, so shifting was a
  very real issue for those who did not tape.

21
Wrap with Copper Foil

• Once all pieces were cut, students wrapped the
  glass panes of the practice window and then their
  group projects.
• Make sure that the copper foil overlaps onto both
  sides of the glass and is crimped adequately.

22
Poor craftsmanship (leaving grinder dust, uneven
taping, loose tape) creates nightmares while
soldering.
23
At this point, they should measure again. More
than one time. And once more, just to check!
Make any necessary adjustments.
24
Flux, then Solder both sides

• Soldering is another easy task. Soldering neatly
  is a bit harderit truly is an art to keep the
  solder lines smooth, full, but not overflowing on
  large pieces.
• Flux the area to be soldered, then apply solder.
  
• Once the whole side is completed, flip the piece
  over and solder the reverse.

25
Frame

• Edges may be wrapped in zinc channel or finished
  in some other fashion depending on the
  application.

26
Clean and Install

• Be sure you have very clean stained glass and
  very clean window glass Fingerprints can be
  very obvious.
• Installation for our project required removing
  the window strips, sandwiching the completed
  panes up against the safety glass, and replacing
  strips.

27
The Finished Works...
28
Mid Point Evaluation
29
Final Evaluation
30
Past Stained Glass Projects at BHS
Four Seasons Fountain Copper and Stained
Glass Spring 2003
31
Landforms 5 Stained Glass PanelsSpring 2000