A History in Glass. Wellesley College, opened twenty five miles west of Boston in 1875, is an all women

Transcription

1 A History in Glass Wellesley College, opened twenty five miles west of Boston in 1875, is an all women liberal arts college known primarily for providing two out of three female Secretaries of State. More recently, the college received global attention for the uproar surrounding a new addition to the artistic life on campus; Tony Matelli s The Sleepwalker a hyper realistic sculpture of a man sleepwalking in nothing but an unfortunate looking pair of tighty whiteys inspired debate about art, free speech and sexual assault within and without of the student body. But most visitors who stop by the campus to snap a selfie with this unnervingly life like statue don t realise that they miss a wealth of artistic installations scattered across the college s confines, from architecture to abstract sculpture to stained glass. Following the twisting main path through Wellesley wends you past the main attractions. First to greet visitors is the LuLu Chow Wang campus centre. Lacking any right degree angles in any structure but the floors, doors and windows, the centre acts equally as an art installation and as a building. Just beyond the LuLu stands the infamous Matelli statue, an escapee from the unassuming brick building the Davis Museum just across the street. After that unsettling sight, visitors come upon the science building, a colourful assembly style industrial construction that inexplicably fits within the bucolic, picturesque qualities of the campus. Out front of that Pompidou like building is installed an appropriately science related metal sculpture entitled Mozart III, visually reminiscent of the brain s neural pathways. While these buildings and sculptures are entertaining and worthy of attention, the exterior of the Houghton Chapel, first glimpsed across the way from the Science Centre, provides the first revelations of Wellesley s true artistic gems. The building s monumental facade of sandy stone brick overwhelms visitors as they approach from the main road, but the

2 chapel still maintains a sense of lightness with its large gothic windows and soaring steeple. The building was conceived as a balance between monumental neoclassical and academically Gothic architecture, resulting in a hybrid Gothic building, a metaphoric representation of Wellesley s iconic combination of academic, philosophical and religious ideals. The ideals embodied in the architecture of the chapel are a result of the college s history. Wellesley was originally intended as a women s seminary college by wealthy Bostonians Henry and Pauline Durant in By the time of the school s opening in 1875, it was reconceived as a women s college, prepared to take on the scandalous social experiment of educating women in the hopes that the world would recognise and benefit from the contributions of female intelligence and spiritual dedication. The Durants were a deeply religious couple that viewed the college as both their Christian and social moral imperative. But the founders recognised that establishing a women s educational institution in the late nineteenth century posed serious social challenges, with primary objections being the hardening of the students or the fracturing of their fragile female minds, both resulting in inevitable spinsterhood. Due to these social apprehensions and their own convictions, the Durants were determined to religiously (though non sectarianly) ground the college, intending to bolster the students spirits and minds against the trials of education. As such, they built the Houghton Chapel, completed in 1899, in what is now the centre of campus. Upon entering the Chapel, the central skylight and windows filter in warm, coloured light through their stained glass windows to create an atmosphere of dynamic, rather than still, silence. The skylight uses pastel green and yellow glass with a central rosette, and the pointed arch stained glass windows cover every wall of the cross shaped room. As visitors might expect, the primary subject of the stained glass is Christian in orientation, but upon

3 closer inspection, the content is directed towards more universal concepts, in keeping with the mission of the founders. The Durant Memorial windows, as well as the Smith, Gamble and Sherwood windows were executed by the same Boston based studio in the first half of the twentieth century on a ground of blue, jewel like glass with elongated saintly figures. Despite their traditional composition, these windows embrace the same balance of the academic and religious ideal built into the foundation of the college. The Durant windows, positioned behind the central podium in the apse, are three fold, embodying the ideals of of love and service (here couched in Christian terms) key to the college s identity: God as love, the call to service and the life of service underneath giant medieval text extolling GOD IS LOVE. They, unusually, depict a true to historic form Jesus the figure sports a beard and mocha toned skin. To emphasise Wellesley s sense of both religious devotion and diversity hinted at in these older blue toned windows, a new window in the same style by Serpentino studios in Needham was installed in The central figure is a young black woman holding a lantern representing truth. She stands above a tree whose leaves make the shape of a world map that s encircled by symbols from every major global religion, from Buddhism to Paganism to Sikhism and beyond. A quote at the bottom of the window, in red, yellow and green, reads: The day we learn that differences do not necessarily involve discriminatory evaluations, vast problems of human relations will be solvable. With this sentiment in mind, visitors encounter the next set of windows, installed in the transepts. These six windows are designed by the famed John La Farge or Louis C Tiffany, former collaborators in glass making. John La Farge the artists who made essential contributions to the windows of the architectural gem Trinity Church in downtown Boston and Tiffany think of the lamps executed their windows in their vibrant, painterly style that looks

4 like blended pastels and gentle watercolours respectively. The sun shining through their glass glows with colour and energy, lighting up the space in glorious golden and rose tones. Of all of the windows, these are the most overtly religious, but even these place Christianity equal with broader ideals. One allegorically celebrates virtue. Another extols the virtues of poetry. Two more focus upon the College s essential respect for writing, the Jewett window in particular, which shows a green tinged scene from Dante s Divine Comedy with an angel descending into a deeper ring of Hell. Only the Brooks windows dedicated to Trinity Church s rector and famous preacher Bishop Phillips Brooks and the Houghton windows, bursting with rolicking angels, depict religiously related scenes with the primary intention of focusing upon God and the life of Jesus. These windows, all given before 1915, are indicative of Wellesley s historic use of religious fervor and feeling to communicate more universally accessible and essential qualities that transcend sectarian bounds. So not only was the school scandalous for educating women in the late nineteenth century, it was novel in its religious and racial tolerance though much of that diversity was institutionalised later. Other more recent additions to the open and echoing chamber of the chapel mingle among the La Farge and Tiffany windows and relate to contemporary renovations to make the space further multifaith friendly. In 2008 the college completed luxurious renovations to the lower floor of the chapel, dubbing it the Multifaith Centre. It provides gathering spaces for all of the religions represented on campus. The Centre receives the most use, as it holds everything from religious services, meditation rooms to the Knitting for Peace club. Ironically, the chapel propre is now only used for music rehearsals and performances and campus wide, non religious ceremonies. In celebration of this move towards furthering religious inclusion an extension of the founder s original tolerance for various faith structures alumni have donated two window

5 series: the Tree and River of Life windows [see image below] and the New Triptych windows, the latter projected to be completed this year. The Tree and River of Life windows are the best loved, likely in part due to its similarity to Wellesley s Springtime campus of rolling hills, flourishing trees and abundantly colourful wildflowers. According to Kendrick Smaellie, Wellesley student and president of Mormon religious life on campus, this pair of windows are the most moving and beautiful on campus. Their clarity and vibrancy of colour lend the picturesque scene a deep sense of spiritual uplift, regardless of religious tradition or spiritual practice. Also a celebration of the diversity of religious and spiritual life on campus are the Triptych windows, which, according to the college website, intend to incorporate design contributions from students, staff, and faculty from a wide variety of backgrounds and beliefs whose experiences contribute to the mosaic that is Wellesley College. As a placeholder reside three gridded, pale yellow Gothic windows topped by small crucifixes. No wander through Wellesley College is complete without an examination of this historic, yet contemporarily functional building that acts as a spiritual (and musical) heart to all of campus. The windows alone are worth the trip, but their setting within the peaceful and removed campus provide a much appreciated respite from the usual Boston bustle.

6 The Tree and River of Life Windows, Houghton Chapel, Wellesley College