Aaron Holland Fine Art

ST. PETER'S UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

The quiet little village of Saukville Wisconsin, is the home of the St. Peter's United Church of Christ.

St. Peter's was built in 1876, and is on the Historic Register of Deeds.

In 1995 members John and Elizabeth Feith gave the church a generous donation to build a new sanctuary. It was decided the new sanctuary would join the old sanctuary making one large building.

Aaron, who has been a life-time member, was moving to Minneapolis to study art at the Bougie Studio. He was awarded the commission to design, paint, and generally oversee the creation of the twenty-one new windows for the church. He would be working closely with Gaytee Stained Glass Studio in Minneapolis for the fabrication of the larger windows, and with member Clyde Crass for the smaller series. Aaron was fortunate to be able to gain a part-time employment with Gaytee at the time, which helped him learn about and love stained glass. His positions ranged from the dirty job in the "mud" room, cutting glass in the "shop", designing and painting windows in the "art" room, and painting restoration.

The first window completed was the large central window of the Good Shepherd which measures an impressive 6.5 feet by seventeen feet tall.

This series of windows(pictured above)was designed to match the windows in the old church. Each of the rondells in the center of the window uses a symbol to tell the story of the life of Christ in chronological order begining with His birth and going clockwise around the building until His resurrection.

The 'Last Supper' was a personal scene chosen by the artist and approved by the church. He had hoped to re-tell a well known story in a way that would cause some to see it again new.

To create a scene that would be more representative of the events that transpired in last days of Jesus, live models were used to re-create this version of the Last Supper of Christ. Click here to see more about the Last Supper windows.

The Last Supper windows were created during the years of 1995-1999, at the same time as the other windows were being created. It was a busy time for the artist with full-time studies, part-time jobs, and window projects, but the church was happy to accomodate. The new building exceeded the donation amount given to the church. Extra time meant they could find the funds for the remaining windows.

All of the stained glass windows were dedicated during a special service given on April 23, 2000, Easter Sunday Dedication( installation of the Last Supper Windows happened the day before!). News clip courtesy of the Ozaukee Press.

This is the last of the windows to be completed and installed. It hangs in the back of the sanctuary, above the Choir loft. The dates commemorate the dedication of the old church 1868, and the dedication of the new sanctuary 1995. This window was installed in 2000, to the Glory of God! Amen.

*Thank you to Jim and John Peterson for all your direction and help with documenting the windows project and for many of the pictures!