The Rev. Hugh Vrablic of United Presbyterian Church blessed a pair of signed Tiffany stained-glass windows Sept. 15, 2024, weeks before they began their travels from the historic house of worship, 214 Mahantongo St., Pottsville, to Massachusetts, where they underwent restoration by conservator Diane Rousseau.

The final destination for the Tiffany windows is the Allentown Art Museum, where they will be on permanent display in a reconstructed setting in the Kress Gallery.

The Kress Gallery reopens April 26 when the two windows will be on view for the exhibition, “Landscape Memorial Windows by Tiffany Studios.” Also opening is “Tiffany’s Gardens in Glass,” April 26 through June 29. There will be an “Opening Weekend of Tiffany” with talks and activities.

The Kress Gallery has been closed for the space to be readied for installation of the Tiffany panes and the addition of high-tech backlighting.

“It was kind of like divine intervention,” said United Presbyterian Church Clerk of Sessions Albert Matz, who is also head of the church Building and Grounds Committee.

“At one of our session meetings, it just so happened that someone from Presbytery sat in,” Matz recalled.

The church official, Marsha Heimann, is an Allentown Art Museum volunteer. She mentioned the windows at a museum meeting when informed they were looking “to increase their Tiffany collection and do something special,” Matz said.

“They gave us a fair market price for it.” he said.

What sealed the deal was that the Allentown Art Museum wasn’t only interested in the decorative panes, it also “wanted the memorial part of it. They wanted the history of the windows. They wanted the background of the church” as part of the museum’s focus on regional art, according to Matz.

The 14-foot-tall windows, which were adjacent along the building’s west wall, were installed in the early 20th century.

Church elder Heber S. Thompson (1840-1911) is memorialized in the Tiffany window dated 1913. The design depicts a stream cascading through banks lined with rhododendrons in a tribute to the Civil War veteran who oversaw coal-mining operations in the region. Inscribed below the landscape is: “Ho, Everyone That Thirsteth, Come Ye to the Waters.”

The Tiffany window created in 1919 is in memory of Sarah Ann Derr (1834-1918) and features a river serenely winding through a valley with mountains in the background. The longtime parishioner’s son commissioned the work with an inscription that reads, “He leadeth me beside the still waters.”

The two windows are believed to have been designed by Tiffany lead designer Agnes F. Northrop, although the signatures states “Tiffany Studios N.Y.” with the corresponding dates.

The pastoral scenes depicted in the windows reflect a transition from earlier spiritual themes in stained-glass panes. A mix of the two motifs, along with colorful geometric shapes, are reflected in the windows in the United Presbyterian Church sanctuary. While some of the other windows are thought to be by Tiffany Studios, they are not signed.

Louis Comfort Tiffany, a son of Tiffany & Co. jeweler and founder Charles Lewis Tiffany, created Tiffany Studios and glass foundry in 1878. Under his innovative leadership, teams of skilled designers, many of whom were women, produced the colorful windows, lamps and other decorative arts items from cut glass that brought the enterprise world renown.

“A big mission of the church is the food pantry,” Matz said. With the pantry open every Thursday, he estimates that nearly 400 are provided with nonperishable food every month. That and other programs will be helped by the sale of the Tiffany windows.

“We are a small congregation and a fairly elderly congregation. And it’s a big building,” Matz said. “This (the Tiffany windows sale) has allowed us to continue to thrive.”

The stone church was dedicated in February 1880 as First Presbyterian Church. The building underwent major reconstruction and enlargement in 1927.

In 1968, the congregation formed a union with those from the Second Presbyterian Church to form the United Presbyterian Church. Stained-glass windows from the church buildings face each other in the sanctuary.

The Allentown Art Museum has a Tiffany Windows campaign to raise funds for “the acquisition, conservation and installation of these exquisite examples of American decorative art,” according to the museum website.

“This milestone project is made possible by the Leigh Schadt and Edwin Schadt Art Museum Trust Fund and with the generous support of more than 220 donors to the Tiffany Windows Campaign 2017-2025,” the website states.

‘Opening Weekend of Tiffany’

April 26

1 p.m. — Curator’s Talk about the windows with Vice President of Curatorial Affairs Elaine Mehalakes. Limited seating. First come, first serve.

11 a.m.-4 p.m. — Chat with Museum docent at A La Carte station at Tiffany windows.

Noon-3 p.m. — Art-making workshop, Museum Lounge. Make your own stained-glass window using cellophane.

April 27

11 a.m.-4 p.m. — Chat with Museum docent at A La Carte station at Tiffany windows.

Noon-3 p.m. — Art-making workshop, Museum Lounge. Make your own stained-glass window using cellophane.

“Landscape Memorial Windows by Tiffany Studios,” opening April 26, Kress Gallery.

“Tiffany’s Gardens in Glass,” April 26 through June 29, Kress Gallery, features 10 of Tiffany Studios’ botanical lamps and windows and nine nature-study photographs from the Studios’ reference collection, curated and organized by the Neustadt Collection of Tiffany Glass, Queens, N.Y.

Allentown Art Museum, 31 N. Fifth St., Allentown, Gallery hours: 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. third Thursdays, noon-4 p.m. Sunday. 610-432-4333; allentownartmuseum.org

“Gallery View” is a column about artists, exhibitions and galleries. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com