It’s not often that countries develop new regions within their international boundaries, but when Canada adopted the new territory of Nunavut in 1999, it created a shortcoming in Rundle United Church’s impressive collective of stained glass windows.
The church’s windows, created between 1961 and 1967 and designed and manufactured in Canterbury, England, represent scenes from the life of Christ, combined with Canadian history and a tribute to the then-10 provinces and two territories of Canada.
Nunavut, created more than 30 years after the first selection of stained glass windows, has obviously been absent from the church’s display – until now.
Now, Canmore artist Susanne Swibold has been tasked with creating a stained glass work on two small windows at the front of the church – windows which will be dedicated to Nunavut.
Swibold has received a $12,000 grant from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts to have the project completed by November.
“The grant is for established artists who want to extend their established repertoire to another media,” she said. “I always wanted to get into stained glass, it’s a natural progression from my photography and drawing.”
Working on stained glass for windows related to Nunavut is also a natural progression for Swibold, who worked in Canada’s north for a couple of decades, as far north as the Bering Sea, including with the Aboriginal peoples there.
Swibold is currently working on a drawing of the windows, a “cartoon,” with the stained glass work then to be done at a top studio in Nova Scotia.
In keeping with a Nunavut theme, Swibold said the two windows will be contemporary in nature, somewhat stylized and abstract, and will feature saxifrage, sea mammals like walrus, narwhal and polar bear, along with caribou, muskox and fox. As she envisions the windows, one will relate to the night sky and aurora borealis while the other will relate to the bright daylight of the north.
“I’m so excited the church has asked me to do this,” she said. “The whole thing is the light, the light defines the colour and its magic. And with these, they’re the first two windows you see when you go in the church, and the last two you see when you leave.”
Nunavut’s slogan is “This Land Is Our Life,” said Swibold, which will be illustrated in the windows.
Margaret Watson of Rundle United said the original windows were part of a 1967 centennial project. Current windows, she said, illustrate early missionaries from the founding churches of the United Church of Canada, which began in 1925, as well as early missionaries in the Bow Valley.
“And as far as we know, we’re the only church to have stained glass windows of all the provincies and territories in Canada. The church wanted to celebrate being on the same property for 125 years and then Reverend Sarah Bruer suggested doing windows to represent Nunavut.
“Susanne has been a member for many years, so we asked her if she was interested, or knew anybody who would be. She got a spark and said ‘I want to do it myself.’
“We quickly decided we wanted to do something totally different because the church has changed dramatically and the vision has changed to be more cutting edge.”
In the past, Swibold had created banners for Christmas and Annunciation, “and I’ve worked with the Aleut people for 19 years,” she said. “This is exciting for me. I’ve been an artist all my life and lived off grants all my life. This is a chance for me to leave a legacy and a good chance to move into a new medium.
“And I’ll be working with one of the best stained glass studios in Canada. They’ve worked with artists from all over the world in stained glass with lead. One of the things I’m looking forward to the most is working in collaboration. When I’ve made films, I’ve worked with a team, but as a photographer and painter, 99 per cent of the time I work by myself.”
Adding the Nunavut window, with a focus on the Inuit, is also in keeping with changes within the United Church. Watson said the church recently officially recognized the fact that all United Churches are on native lands, and added the Mohawk slogan “All My Relationships” to the church’s official crest.
