Custom Glass Bowls - Paola Community Center
<< Previous | Main | Next >>

Grand Light was given the task of creating eight slumping glass bowl fixtures for the historic Paola Community Center building in Paola, Kansas.

The Community Center, built in 1918, originally served as the Ursuline Sisters Academy Boarding School. It was recently given to the community by the Ursuline Sisters, and renovated for use as a community center. Today, the building serves as an arts showcase for Paola and Miami County's diverse communities, offering multicultural arts and education programming.

The glass bowls were historic replications made for pendant lights that hang in the Center's auditorium. The bowls were 20 inches in diameter, and featured a stenciled pattern that matched other patterns in the building's architecture.

A mold was used to form the shape of the glass bowls. It was then placed in a kiln, where the increasing fluidity of the glass with temperature causes the glass to 'slump' into the mold under the force of gravity. Next, a stencil was applied to four sides of the bowls. Then the glass was sandblasted to provide a "frosted" look, and to reveal the patterns provided by the stencil.

Upon completion, the custom glass bowls were inspected, photographed, and crated for shipment back to the Paola Community Center. For more information about Grand Light's custom lighting, custom hardware, and restoration capabilities, please call 1-800-922-1469 or email us at info@lightrestoration.com