Bob White and the Fused Glass Windows
of the
North Shore Unitarian Church ©

(click on the smaller pictures to expand)

Bob White - Master Artist - Guggenheim Fellow - creator of the Fused Glass Windows in the Sculptured Fused Glass Wall at the North Shore Unitarian Church, could well be called an artistic genius, unequaled in our world. Across the span of his lifetime he researched, developed experimented with and perfected, literally inventing his unique form of fused glass as a totally new art form for his unique work. To our knowledge no one has ever created, cast, developed or fabricated such a technology and wondrous works of pure art as his. He was a remarkable and outstanding human being as well as a true one-of-a-kind artist.

Born right after the turn of the 19th century in Mason City, Iowa, the youngest of 7 children, he quickly became the gentle, loving, artistic one of the family. At 17 he was permitted by his somewhat conservative engineering oriented family to follow his own way and enrolled in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. From there his life became devoted to the arts in many forms. But his true calling came when he was fortunate enough to have been given a small family inheritance that allowed him to spend 2 critical years as a very young man traveling throughout Europe where he became enchanted - almost mesmerized by the radiance of color in the Western group of stained glass medallion windows in the wonderful French cathedral in Chartres. Even after being mugged and left for dead on the streets of Trastevere by the Italian Fascisti, intolerant of any foreigners especially artists in Rome during those turbulent times, Bob White re-dedicated himself to his continuing pursuit of the arts.

He returned to the United States and began a life-long career of work, study and research trying to unlock the secrets of the medieval stained glass masters. In 1930 he was given a Guggenheim Fellowship where he returned to Chartres as well as many of the other great cathedrals of France, Italy, and England where he discovered some of the original and forgotten stained glass recipes in ancient text books at Oxford and Cambridge. These were to serve him well in his later experiments in fusing glass while studying the wonders of light, transmission, reflectance and entrapment within layered glass.

The next 30 years were devoted to constant experiments trying to expand upon the knowledge and phenomenon of how light penetrates through a variety of glass forms, shapes, thicknesses and colors. And finally, in 1964 after thousands of trials and errors, his first incredibly successful Glass Fusion was created. It was a three-panel abstract art work of Christ on the cross that won him a coveted Tiffany grant for further study.

We met Bob at a gallery showing his work on the near north side of Chicago and were awed by the sparkling color, luminescence and breathtaking quality of his work. A short time later we commissioned him to create a series of fused glass panels for a sculptural wall of light that was part of our architectural design work on the Sun House on West Burton Place in Chicago, and another for the entrance to an advertising agency we were designing and building on North Michigan Avenue. Both were remarkable collaborations and his glass fusions amazing. They now exist as museum pieces.

The North Shore Unitarian Church had been designed a year before we had met Bob White (For more details on how the concept coalesced, see Inspiration and Pen to Paper) . Our initial vision included a Sculptured Wall filled with a series of 23 openings for what we had imagined would be a form of stained or leaded glass windows. We hoped to find the best glass artist of the time to work on this project with us. The name Gabriel Loire, one of the most renowned contemporary glass artists in the world, came up again and again. We decided to fly to Chartres, France to meet with Gabriel in his 4-storey studio in the charming old section of this ancient town right below the famous Western Windows of the cathedral, his own spiritual inspiration day after day. Gabriel was intrigued with the concept.  At that time he was working on a number of international commissions, which eventually included the famed Glory Windows for the Thanksgiving Chapel in Dallas, Texas and could not work the North Shore Unitarian church into his schedule for at least a year or so. We returned to Chicago thrilled but pensive about the long wait and his proposed cost to become involved. There was no money whatsoever in the church budget for such an endeavor.

Upon our return we had a critical meeting with Rev. Russell R. Bletzer, minister, Harry Paine, chairman, and the entire building committee describing to them the work of Gabriel Loire, and brought back some photographs of his completed projects around the world. And though everyone was quite thrilled with the thought of having something like this installed in the Sanctuary, there simply was no way that funds could be raised in the foreseeable future. Again … there was no money whatsoever in the church budget for such an endeavor, even though the design concept of the Sculptured Glass Wall of Light was a part of the accepted plan being built.

Pondering what to do, we decided to discuss the project with Bob White. Even though we had recently commissioned him to create a few fused glass panels for our private and commercial clients, Bob had only finished his first really successful glass fusion after decades of work and had never undertaken any project as large as or even close to what had been designed for NSUC that was now under construction. In an extended dialogue Suzanne and Ron asked Bob if he believed he could undertake such a major assignment and commitment to deliver the same quality of his work to the church project.

Bob wanted to think about such a commitment and asked for a few days to talk it over with his wife, Muriel, who was a hospital nurse. She was actually providing the bulk of the daily finances supporting their lives. We also had to consider how this work could possibly go forward given the lack of any funding whatsoever from the church. Bob called us the following day and pledged that he would devote whatever time it would take to create and produce the glass, but wanted nothing to do with any installation as this was clearly beyond his training, experience and capabilities.

Suzanne and Ron agreed to privately provide initial funding for Bob to begin some conceptual drawings. An initial lunch meeting was set with the Rev. Russell R. Bletzer, his wife, Jeanne and us to begin trying to explain to Bob the philosophies of the Unitarian Universalist church and denomination in general and the North Shore Unitarian Church, NSUC, in particular. What followed over the next 3 years was one of the most profound religious, spiritual and philosophical encounters, discussions, debates, dialogs, collaborations and exchanges of ideas on the human existence within the natural order of our known universe that we have ever experienced.

One of the early programming caveats from the building committee before we had even started any of the conceptual architectural design drawings was that there would be NO images, icons, idols, statues, crosses or other religious symbols of any kind displayed anywhere in the new church and Sanctuary. This was a critical – almost impossible design issue - for all of the team to contemplate, especially Bob, as we would listen to the variety of explanations, religious, spiritual and philosophical answers proffered from so many diverse (Unitarian) points of view. Rev. Russell Bletzer and his wonderful wife, Jeanne, formerly head of Religious Education at the Evanston Unitarian Church, were outstanding in their words of wisdom to guide us all.

Then one day, after a particularly exceptional wine enhanced lunch and lengthy discourse in Highwood at "My Favorite Inn", owned by famed restaurateur Willy Volpe, (gone but not forgotten), --- Bob White said, “Oh; I get it. The search for truth is the truth.”

A few months later that year a concept presentation was given to Harry Paine and the building committee. It was held in the Sanctuary space well under construction on the sand fill awaiting the rustic terrazzo floor to be poured. The roof had just been installed. The walls were up but no ceiling or sculptured plaster wall work had started. A long plywood table was set up inside the North end of the Sanctuary space. It was cold with only a construction space heater running to keep the room from freezing. On the table a drop cord spotlight, propped up against some bricks, was shining into the shrouded back of a small sample of one of Bob’s miraculous glass fusions remaining from his experiments.  On the curved brick wall under the little red bubble skylight above were taped three delightful sketches illuminated by 3 small spotlights strapped and anchored to ladders.

The assembled group gathered around the plywood table. The entire concept was described to them in words and images as one symphonic composition with three movements. All tried to visualize how this would look in place as they peered around the Sanctuary with only a few construction safety lights illuminating the space. A set of the construction plans and specifications was spread out as a reference to answer some of the detailed questions that might be raised, which obviously were. It was almost an existential experience for all.

1.  The Search for Truth is the Truth:  This is the over-riding story and theme for the largest, 11-panel section comprising the Easterly portion of the Sculptured Fused Glass Wall, as well as for the entire composition. It highlights the story of Man and Woman in their historical age-long search for their place in our universe across the spectrum of human existence and natural evolution. The 11 panels become the Flower of Life movement in the overall scheme.

2.  The Beauty of our Natural World:  Cascading and winding across the lower middle section of the wall is the second movement.  Flowers of air, earth, water and fire grace the earthly environment, embracing and nurturing the human spirit. This 6-panel portion of the composition is the lyrical, pastoral song of gratitude for the apparent inexhaustible variety of refreshment, contemplation and inspiration offered by Nature.

3.   The Universe Expands:  This final movement of 5 upward spiraling panels at the Westerly end of the wall seeks to express the inquisitive, unquenched saga and searching nature of the human being for his and her relationship to life in the cosmos. The microcosm and macrocosm of the now known ever-expanding universe is seen through the lenses of recently developed quantum mathematics, utilizing highly complex technology and instrumentation. Contemporary humans are today, for the first time in history, able to peer into and penetrate fields never before available to human comprehension and investigation.

Finale:  Panel number 23 is a surprise, a discovery to be found behind and above the choir, visible only from a few places in the Sanctuary. It is the smallest single panel depicted as simply a spectrum of pure sunlight and energy. For without the sun, life as we know it today could not exist. In our universe that revolves around our sun, this becomes a fitting end … or the beginning of another Search for Truth.

This was the concept; the dream; the vision that had been spawned.

The few months of meetings among Russell, Jeanne, Bob, Suzanne and Ron, profound religious, spiritual and philosophical encounters, discussions, debates, dialogs, collaborations and exchanges of ideas on the human existence within the natural order of our known universe that were held with Bob, seemed to have born precious fruit. The exact details of how each and every one of the 23 Fused Glass Panels would actually look and be installed had not been solved as yet. But the entire assembled group was ecstatic!

Bob White was briefly excused from the meeting. Harry Paine, chair of the building committee, offered his own observation, unanimously confirmed by the entire committee. They were thrilled; but there was NO money whatsoever in the church budget for such an endeavor. The meeting was adjourned; we packed up the presentation and drove Bob back to Chicago as he had no car. Bob wanted to know how the committee had reacted to the presentation. We shared only their exuberant appreciation for what they had just experienced and as we dropped off Bob at his studio told him that we would get back to him in a couple of days. A new challenge was at hand.

On the way home, Suzanne and Ron after a long discussion made a commitment. We would privately raise whatever monies would be required to allow Bob’s wondrous works to become a part of the North Shore Unitarian Church. See the story:
Funding The Fused Glass Windows

The following morning we called Harry Paine and made him an offer he could not refuse. We would raise the funds from our friends, clients,  business associates and colleagues necessary to allow Bob to create and deliver to us all of the panels and then we would install them at NO cost to the church. Our only caveat was that all would have to allow Bob the time needed to create and produce each panel at his own pace and schedule as he was a one man shop. All monies that would be raised and collected would be deposited into a Special Trust Account to be established on behalf of the North Shore Unitarian Church. Harry Paine and Jan Smeltzer, treasurer of the church at the time would be the trustees. Only Harry could authorize and Jan could distribute any and all payments to Bob based upon certificates issued by us for each Fused Glass Panel as delivered to us. After discussing this offer with the building committee and the Board of Trustees, they agreed and work began. The next three years witnessed a remarkable story unto itself. All of the money needed...and then some...was raised, collected, and deposited into the Trust Fund in 91 days! Yet Bob had yet to finish the first panel. 

Bob was given another payment on account and the Fused Glass Work commenced (See Fabrication). The real creative process had only just begun. The overall theme of the windows had been accepted; the exacting shapes and forms of each opening were being finely tuned and softly sculpted on the site as the Sculptured Fused Glass Wall began to rise in space; the poetic detail of each panel was in the hands, mind and heart of the master glass artist, Bob White.

Those few years, where NSUC members had committed themselves to build their new Sanctuary and expand their little church community, were also turbulent times in world history. The Viet Nam war conflict had spawned national outrage and controversy. The entire NSUC membership had become deeply involved and committed to ending the war with peaceful demonstrations, marches and vigils. Kent State. The famous, some say infamous, Democratic National convention in Chicago, with its so-called “Police Riots” trying to control the demonstrations outside of the Hilton hotel, drew world-wide attention. Sputnik had been launched but Apollo 7 was still on the ground; the first man to walk on the moon and “Earthrise” were still to come. All of this fed into and became an integral part of the eventual design details and creation of the Fused Glass Window Wall.

The following Easter Sunday, about 5 months later, the first service was conducted in the new Sanctuary. Saturday morning beforehand Bob called to tell us that the first Fused Glass Panel was ready. It was the eye, the oculus and center of the 11-panel movement of the composition. We immediately drove down, picked it up and with the help of our children, Tim, Colleen, Brian, Harry Paine and Russell Bletzer, Minister, installed the fusion into the wall that evening.

People began arriving early Sunday morning for Easter services. They were startled upon first entering the Sanctuary. Right in the middle of the 11-panel movement of the symphony of glass, nestled into the soft, gently shaped and rolling pure white sand finished plaster wall, glistened “Panel number 4”, The eye of Man/Woman in His/Her search for His/Her place in our universe. This panel was chosen to be done first because it was both the focal center of this 11-panel portion of the composition, and the most intimately related to the human being.

Historically for centuries, the human eye has been used as a mystical symbol of vision and supreme knowledge. It appears in literary and artistic allusions throughout all times. In this panel the eye is not the all-seeing, but the all-searching - for truth in all directions, outward and within. The Search for Truth is the Truth.

The Southeast sun was pouring through all of the openings, the rest of which only had large tempered plate glass panels set and scribed into the organically sculpted shapes. It was truly a glorious Easter Sunday as Russell Bletzer shared the beauty of their new environment with the congregation from the rock, the 5-ton organically weathered natural boulder pulpit.

Over the next 2-½ or so years Bob worked as hard as he could for a man of his advanced years and physical health. One by one the panels were created, fabricated, delivered and installed. Suzanne suggested that it might be a great idea if each of these panels could be given to a family or individual for about a week to study and contemplate before being installed. Then, at the Sunday service following the panel being installed, a dialog sermon could take place with Russell and the family or individual, sharing with the congregation their own personal reflections on what that panel meant to him or her, and how it related to their daily lives. So be it. Done.

This was an extraordinary experience for the entire congregation to experience and witness over those years. Some of those, whose words electrified and astounded the members and friends attending the Sunday services as they listened and watched, included Klema Scher, Bob and Maggie Behn, Helen Ratzer, William and Martine Sproat, Kathy Fortuna, Don Hackman and Marilyn Henry.

Many members and friends of NSUC during those precious 2-1/2 years asked to become involved in any part of the installation if possible in any manner. Each just wanted to be a part of this extraordinary evolutionary process. So, as each panel was ready we would call upon one or two of them to become part of the team for that day of work. Some of the names that are etched into our minds are Maggie Behn, Bob Behn, Gerhard Kolb, Charlie Emmons, Charlie Moelter, Treval Powers, Tim Dirsmith, Colleen Dirsmith, Brian Dirsmith, Mary Danakas and Al Danakas. Their participation made it even more meaningful, and their own stories are just as precious (See The Installation).

Our files are filled with dozens of unsolicited letters, notes and comments from many members, friends and visitors of NSUC including Georgette Driscoll, Jerry Estes, Sara Firestone, Charlie and Helen Emmons, Steve Blackwelder and Mike Lee that were passed on to Bob White before he died. They all speak to the beauty of Bob’s work and how it has touched each of them in dealing with their daily lives. Most reflect upon how their own spirits have been nourished, inspired and sustained. Many comment on the profound impact the visual and sensual experience his work has had on their personal struggles for individual survival. The search for truth is the truth.

It is fascinating, even intriguing in retrospect, to realize that the congregation, members, friends and visitors had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of seeing and experiencing the birth and maturation of the Sculptured Fused Glass Wall take place over those 2-1/2 years. Every 6 or 8 weeks another panel would be installed causing another dialog sermon where all could learn about and become intimately immersed into this Unitarian, spiritual, philosophical work. Today, one sees the windows as a fait-a-compli and rarely is able to comprehend the overall concept without a series of explanations or reading the book that was published describing The Fused Glass Windows of the North Shore Unitarian Church.

The Glass Fusions --- Pizza --- and the Children of NSUC:

Over many years we have had the privilege and pleasure of sharing with the delightful little children and youth of the church how the Glass Fusions were designed and actually made by Bob White in his studios. It is truly an intricate process, a wonderment.

Over 3 decades of trial and mostly error, Bob experimented with and eventually figured out how to fuse glass of varying thicknesses, types, colors and textures obtained from many different glass manufacturers both here in the United States and abroad. He found that each particular piece or slab of glass could be quite distinct, could melt and begin to turn to a liquid rather than remaining viscous at different temperatures. This was critical and the most difficult to determine, the secret for achieving a reliable and timeless fusion. Color and thickness could also have a big impact especially when he was trying to fuse multiple pieces of differing colors and thicknesses together. Then there was the use of ceramic frits and paints, inscribed and woven into the various designs, which also had to be compatible with the firing and fusion process.

On a Sunday morning we would bring to the children in their classrooms one very special finished Glass Fusion, a wonderful composition we commissioned Bob to make for our own studios, the last fusion he created in his life. It is about 18” x 24” organically shaped and 1” thick weighing nearly 25 pounds. The children could each hold, examine, feel and see all of the little details involved in its design and fabrication. We explained that making a Fused Glass Panel was sort of like making a terrific Pizza.

The children really understood the analogy of a Pizza being cooked in the oven at about 450˚ Fahrenheit while a Glass Fusion had to be fired in a kiln at somewhere between 1539˚ and 1607˚ (Cone 013 to Cone 011) Fahrenheit. These were the ranges of temperatures that Bob had determined would have to be achieved for a structurally sound fusion. The real challenge was in determining which temperatures worked best with which combinations of glass to achieve a stable Glass Fusion that would fuse or bind together without melting and running all together, becoming one messy glob of vegetable soup. Bob would very carefully monitor the fusion process by observing the Pyrometric Temperature Cones set inside the kiln as they melted and bent over. And this fusion point was different depending on the color, thickness and type of glass being used.  When Bob believed that his “Pizza” Glass Fusion was properly cooked, he shut off the kiln and allowed it to slowly cool down which took at least 4 to 6 days.  As the fused glass would cool, parts of it might sometimes shrink and craze. Bob knew this and worked those very unique and minute crazed characteristics into some of his panels. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes the fusion failed and he had to start all over again on that particular panel.

Baking a good Pizza gives a visual image that really describes the challenge. The dough must stick to the tomato sauce, which must stick to cheese, which must stick to the sausage, which must then stick to all the other toppings added to each personal pizza “design”. If the oven is too hot, everything melts, runs together and burns, charring both the top and bottom. If the oven is too cool, nothing will cook properly and it will taste raw and funny. The same logic goes into baking (firing) Glass Fusions in a kiln. The kids all understood that quite well.

His kiln was only big enough to hold and fire a single fusion of about 12” x 14” at one time. To create and then fabricate the large panels for each of the sculptured openings, the uppermost being about 4 feet wide and 10 feet high, he devised an adaptation of the detail the ancient leaded glass window artists used to accommodate his one-of-a-kind glass fusing technique. Exact plywood templates of each panel shape were given to him as the final organic contour that had already been sculpted in the plaster wall that had to be followed precisely. From these he made a 1” high metal frame following the specific peripheral profile for each panel shape. This provided him with sort of a free form pie-pan into which he would place a series of smaller glass fusions according to his design sketches.

Spaces, or framing around and between each fusion, were carefully planned out in detail as part of his unique flowing, also sculptural design for each panel. In the Medieval churches, these spaces were usually made of small, slotted lead frames called “cames” that held the individual pieces of traditional stained glass in place. For Bob’s glass fusions, he poured into this space a dark black epoxy matrix that flowed into all of these little joints and spaces framing and surrounding each fusion to bond and hold the pieces all together in one structural entity. On the top surface of this banding facing the Sanctuary he then sprinkled in finely crushed dark grey granite chips to give each panel and the entire composition an overall coordinated finished appearance. That is how his Fused Glass was made. 

23 January, 1983. Charlie Emmons penned these words for a “Celebrate your Windows” service honoring Bob White. It was the last time Bob had the opportunity of seeing his work as he was being honored this day.

“Those of you who were here when these fused glass windows were being installed are in the same position as those of us who came today. You will never see them alike on any two occasions. They have been like this and will be that way forever. Change is a part of their constancy. Cherish your view of them, for like the view of the eternal, it is uniquely yours.”

“These questions are posed for your contemplation. What can we learn today from these Fused Glass Panels? Were they relevant to life when they were first installed ? Can inspiration come from struggle, gentleness, love and appreciation of what has passed before us? Are our senses refreshed and nourished by the creative works of others? Is the unknown, the future our expanding universe a potential source of truth and reality? What is truth? What is THE truth? Is there truth? And is truth relevant?”

These last four questions have been asked time and time again by many including Plato, Socrates, Robert Hutchins, Mortimer Adler and now Bob White.

The world is a better place because of Bob White, his work, and those who took the risk and chose to build NSUC for others.

To celebrate the entire experience, Suzanne Dirsmith coordinated a team that included Russell Bletzer, Jeanne Bletzer, Tak Murakami, and Ray Garolis to publish the book,The Fused Glass Windows of the North Shore Unitarian Church. 5000 copies were printed and gifted to the church to become a part of their library and history.

Legend has it that in the end, Harry A. Paine, known as the father of the church, one of the founders of NSUC, chair of the building committee, holder of almost every office and volunteer position over the decades, cherished and treasured Abraham Lincoln role model for life, and worker bee extraordinaire then made us an offer he believed we simply could not refuse. In lieu of paying us a professional fee for designing and building NSUC, we could join and become simple worker bee members for life as he and his wife, Dinny Paine. So we did; one of the best decisions our family has ever made.

Incipit Vita Nova

(Thus begins a new life)

Suzanne and Ron

Suzanne Roe Dirsmith
President
Ron Dirsmith, FAAR, NA
Fellow in Architecture
American Academy in Rome
National Academy of Design, New York
The Dirsmith Group
International Architects and Landscape Planners
Architecture    Landscape Planning    Lighting Environments
318 Maple Avenue Highland Park, Illinois  60035

http://www.dirsmithgroup.com

Footnotes:

1.  “What does Russell Bletzer, Minister of the North Shore Unitarian Church, have in common with Hugh Hefner?”  This was the headline of a long article in the local Pioneer Press newspaper that was framed and hung on the wall of Russell’s study. It was placed right next to the certified block of Playboy stock that Hefner had given to the church to support the fused glass window project. Russell loved to talk about this to everyone with a wry smile on his face and an --- “I’ll never tell” --- glint in his eye."

 2.   The Museum of the National Academy of Design and Fine Arts in New York City, the oldest professional arts association in the United States, has recently acquired a portfolio of 102 prints, drawings and photographs of the work of The Dirsmith Group for its permanent collection of pre-eminent American architecture, design and art that includes 12 images of the NORTH SHORE UNITARIAN CHURCH. This acquisition followed the recent election of Ron Dirsmith to the Academy, only the 3rd architect elected from Illinois since the Academy's founding in 1825.

3.   This web site has been lovingly created with Bob Gregory, a wonderful, gentle person, and past president of the North Shore Unitarian Church. Thank you, Bob.

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