Our Mission
Our goal is to raise awareness of Canada's extensive --and often delightful-- range of stained glass, and its context within both traditional and modern work in other countries. We hope this archeology of the recent past will help preserve Canada's stained glass inventory, and the often irreplaceable buildings in which it is found.
For a variety of reasons, this ancient art and craft has been largely overlooked by the Canadian academic and heritage communities. There has not yet been a comprehensive book on stained glass in this country.
The Institute is attempting to create a representative survey of an estimated one hundred thousand interesting windows across Canada. We invite our heritage counterparts in every part of the country to join this effort.
We hope that the photos on this site will lead to buildings themselves becoming more accessible to the public, so that people can experience these works of art and history for themselves.
Our focus is on works made in the 19th and 20th centuries, which in many cases are at risk of anonymity, of disappearance from the public realm, or simply of uncaring destruction. We also celebrate the contemporary Canadian and international artists who continue to explore the artistic possibilities of fired glass.
Patrick Burns, Founder
March, 2009