Plymouth Artist Creates Stained-Glass Window for Corcoran Senior Living Chapel
Building a senior living home from the ground up is no easy task. You need apartments where people can live, and amenities for residents to enjoy.
One of those amenities at Saint Therese of Corcoran is a chapel.
“As a faith-based, people-first organization, our approach is to always address not only the needs of their care and the needs of their housing, but also their spiritual needs,” said Cindy Olson, a sales and marketing officer for Saint Therese.
In many places of worship, you’ll find stained-glass windows.
And you’d be hard-pressed to find someone as experienced in the art of stained-glass production as Wayne Norton of Plymouth.
“Probably a couple hundred. As far as large projects like this, I’ve probably done 30 chapels around the Twin Cities and surrounding areas, and then outside the state of Minnesota, another 10 or so,” said Norton, the owner of Norton Stained Glass.
He estimates that he spent more than 2,000 hours designing and producing a stained-glass piece in his Plymouth studio for Saint Therese’s Corcoran chapel, which is still under construction.
Wayne Norton helped install a stained-glass panel that he created inside the new chapel at Saint Therese of Corcoran.
A delicate process
After a year’s worth of work, Norton and his crew had the delicate task of installing that piece — divided into six large panels — into a window that’s 21-feet high.
“We’re dealing with very small edge leeway, so it’s gotta be right in there,” he said, as a crew member worked to install one of the panels.
During an hours-long process, the group took special care not to drop, damage or chip any of the sections. On more than one occasion, the crew had to shave off a portion of the panels to ensure a precise fit.
“You lose some sleep at night thinking about, ‘is it gonna fit?,'” said Norton.
Meanwhile, this project isn’t exactly going to earn Norton a big payday. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.
“I’m donating a pretty significant portion of this project to Saint Therese, just simply because I feel like God has been good to me throughout my life, and it’s a way for me to give back to seniors,” Norton said.
Thanks to him, seniors will have the opportunity to enjoy an image of Saint Therese standing in a garden.
“It’s kind of like a legacy,” Norton said.
It’s a legacy piece that will be viewed by thousands for decades to come.
“People like Wayne, who have immense talent such as he does, really makes a difference for every single resident who lives here,” said Olson.
A section of the stained-glass piece created by Wayne Norton of Plymouth.
Related: ‘Never Too Late,’ Brooklyn Park Seniors Tie the Knot at St. Therese
