PIA – DAVID JUDSON
((Banner: Inspirational Light))
((Executive Producer: Marsha James))
((Camera: Kaveh Rezaei))
((Map: Los Angeles, California))
((David Judson, President, Judson Studios))
It’s hard to be part of a five-generation business because you have to kind of make your imprint but you also have to understand you’re just a chain that’s going to continue on. And so, there’s something really kind of rewarding in that. What we’re making is something that will affect people’s lives on a very personal level.
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((David Judson, President, Judson Studios))
Stained glass has been in my blood for generations. My name is David Judson. I’m the president of the Judson Studios here in Los Angeles. We design and manufacture stained glass windows for churches, hotels, residences. And so, from design to installation, we are manufacturing these windows for custom projects.
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((David Judson, President, Judson Studios))
Well, when I was really small, this is what I wanted to do. This is where I loved to be. I loved kind of knowing that this was in my family and something I really wanted to be involved with. Judson Studios was founded in 1897 by my great-great-grandfather and I’m now the fifth generation that’s owned and operated he studio. When you think of stained glass, and you think of it, a lot of times, you associate it with the cathedrals of Europe, for example. These were originally drawn to show figures in the bible, to maybe tell stories about the bible to people who couldn’t necessarily read or to bring in inspirational light. And so, by designing images on glass, you can incorporate it into an architectural setting that allows light to come in and create an environment that can’t be done in any other art form or any other material.
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((David Judson, President, Judson Studios))
We just recently completed a 3,400 square-foot (315 square-meter) window for a church that was just built in Leawood, Kansas, just south of Kansas City. And it’s nearly a 100 feet by 40 feet (33 x 13 meters), which is about the size of a basketball court. No window had ever really been made like this before. And so, Tim and I, my creative designer, we found a gentleman named Narciso Coraleotta. Narciso is kind of the most knowledgeable about fused glass. And so, we’ve come up with a technique of painting on the glass using fused glass to create a very contemporary method that really has not been seen before and, I think, will change the future of stained glass.
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((David Judson, President, Judson Studios))
By combining traditional techniques with fusing, with the capabilities of technology, those things, I think, are what we really focused our energies on here at Judson Studios, to really push the envelope and create new possibilities in what people think of as stained glass. It attracts a certain personality and people just really love to be involved with it. And that’s the people that stay here the longest are the people that are passionate about it. That’s one of the kind of most rewarding things about working here at the studio, too, is to see those people all contribute to something that didn’t exist, you know. It’s something that you created from nothing to something that gets installed in someone’s environment and it’s a really rewarding experience.
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((David Judson, President, Judson Studios))
For me, personally, what I want to kind of leave behind is that this perception that stained glass is built on a tradition that can also create something in a modern-day audience. It just doesn’t have to be necessarily limited to a church or a religious institution. And so, I hope that we can enter this artistic world not only through fine art and the galleries but also in public spaces where people feel like stained glass has kind of just improved their life, just at least for a few moments in the day.
