REDLANDS: New stained glass window at Smiley Library dedicated BY ERIN WALDNER STAFF WRITER March 19, 2014 A new stained glass window at the A.K. Smiley Public Library honors a man who gave 40 years of his professional life to this Redlands institution. Larry Burgess spent 14 of those years as an archivist and 26 years as director before retiring in 2012. The window’s creator, local glass artist Tom Medlicott, said the window features five buildings important to Burgess: the chapel at the University of Redlands, which he attended; the Lincoln Memorial Shrine; Burgess’ home, the historic Fisk House; the library, represented by its tower; and Mohonk, a resort in New Paltz, N.Y., that has been in the Smiley family for generations. Roses and oranges, both of which grow in abundance in Redlands, form a border. “It’s really striking,” said the library’s current director, Don McCue. The window was installed in the library’s administrative offices and is visible from the circulation desk. It replaces a clear, plain glass window. Burgess said he used to tell Janice Jones, who works at the library, that when he retired, he was going to give the library a stained glass window for that spot in administration. He envisioned a window that would tell the library’s story. To his surprise, the library’s board of directors commissioned a window to honor him. “The joke is really on me,” he said. Board members gathered Monday, March 17 to dedicate the window, a festive affair that had McCue popping the cork on a bottle of champagne. The board spent $15,000 on the window, with funding coming from the library’s endowment. “I really think it personifies Larry,” said Bill Hardy, board president. Burgess said the window achieves what he envisioned when he thought of the one he would present to the library upon his retirement. He said the buildings in the new window all tie back to the library. For instance, he said the library was built with Mohonk dollars. Medlicott is the artist behind numerous stained glass windows at the library, which has been in operation since the late 19th century. Medlicott estimated he spent 400 to 500 hours on the Burgess window, which he said contains nearly 5,000 pieces of glass from all over the world, from Portland, Ore., to Germany. Some are no bigger than a fingernail. “I really enjoyed the process,” Medlicott said, adding that he kept increasing the number of pieces in the window to make it as intricate as possible. One of the many details in the window is the University of Redlands “R,” located on a local hill. Medlicott said all of the windows he has created for the library have been his privilege, this one especially, because it was for Burgess. The two have known each other since 1975, when Medlicott came to the library looking for a job. pe/local-news/san-bernardino-county/san-bernardino-county-headlines-index/20140319-redlands-new-stained-glass-window-at-smiley-library-dedicated.ece
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 20:35:07 +0000
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