Hands-on Studio Training Allowed BYU Art Students to Contribute to Stained Glass Windows for New LDS Temples
One of Katelyn Abrams’ earliest memories is of her father encouraging her creativity, challenging her to color on a sheet of paper without using her hands. The experience, she says, was “magical,” and it sparked a lifelong devotion to making art.
That devotion eventually led Abrams — a recent Brigham Young University graduate and Vernal, Utah, native — to a stained glass studio in Springville, where she and fellow BYU art student Gianna Cummard spent a summer creating stained glass windows for three new LDS temples.
Neither artist had formal training in stained glass before their internship at Timeless Art Glass, a professional studio specializing in custom work and sacred architecture. What they gained there, however, went far beyond technical skill.
Abrams’ introduction to stained glass came not from a classroom, but from a childhood fascination. A bonus feature on a VeggieTales Easter movie showing the stained glass process stuck with her for years. “It landed on my bucket list,” she said. “I never imagined I’d actually get to do it.”
The chance to create stained glass came after a casual conversation with friends about artistic goals. Abrams remembered hearing about a studio that created temple windows and decided to reach out. The email led to a tour and eventually an internship offer for both Abrams and Cummard.
Cummard, an art student from Gilbert, Arizona, had some family exposure to stained glass through her father and grandmother, but had never completed a project herself. Still, the medium had always intrigued her. “I was drawn to how light and color work together,” she said, “and to the physical and mental demands of the process.”
Those demands quickly became clear. Day-to-day work at the studio involved cutting glass, fitting lead, soldering joints, applying patina, cleaning panels and carefully assembling windows piece by piece. The work was precise; each piece of glass had to fit tightly into place so the window could support its own weight. “You learn very quickly how unforgiving glass can be,” Cummard said. “Hearing a crack near the end of a window creates a unique kind of dread.”
Both artists began with training windows before moving on to real projects, including windows for temples in Cody, Wyoming; Torreón, Mexico; and Papua New Guinea. Abrams even had the rare opportunity to clean one of the Salt Lake City Temple windows during renovations.
While the technical training was intensive, both artists emphasized that the studio’s culture left the deepest impression. “The environment was incredible,” Abrams said. “The owners were deeply invested in us as artists and people.” That support became especially meaningful when Abrams’ husband unexpectedly lost his job during the internship. One of the studio’s owners reached out personally to check on her family. “I wasn’t expecting that kind of care,” she said. “It felt like a real community.”
Cummard echoed that sentiment, noting how the studio functioned as a collaborative ecosystem rather than a hierarchy. Designers, craftsmen, architects, shippers and installers all played essential roles in bringing each window to life. “This wasn’t just about making something beautiful,” she said. “It was about trust, teamwork and honoring the labor behind the art.”
For Abrams, the internship reshaped her artistic practice, changing her natural instincts as an artist. She became fascinated with how stained glass uses fracture and structure simultaneously and how fragile pieces are held together by lead and transformed by light.
“I am usually loose and fast in my work,” she said. “Stained glass, however, demands slowness and precision. It forced me to work differently, and that has influenced everything I have made since.”
At the end of the summer, Cummard was offered a paid position and is now a professional stained glass artist at the studio. “I realized how powerful a single email can be,” she said. “Acting on curiosity changed my life.”
Both artists hope viewers of their work come away with a deeper appreciation for process and imperfection. “My experience with stained glass taught me that mistakes, revisions and frustration are not failures; they are essential parts of the creative process,” Cummard said. “I want my work to honor effort rather than hide it, and to encourage others to value the unseen work that goes into making something meaningful.”