Santa Clara Utah Heights Stake: Lobby Mural

 This stake center in Santa Clara is a pretty typical building of the late 70s/early 80s period.

However, it was the home stake of the artist Robert L. Shephard, who painted several well-known murals for the Church, including the garden room in the Manti and Idaho Falls Temples, the baptistry in Manti, the Idaho Falls Fourth Ward, and more. In the north lobby, he painted the Ascension of Christ:

I would probably date this mural to the early 80s. It's outside of the chapel, so artwork was likely prohibited in the chapel by this time. As he did in the Idaho Falls 4th Ward, he painted the mural to fit the space, making use of the peaked ceiling to show Christ's height above the watching apostles.

It's a unique idea that I wish we'd see more. If we really are against artwork in the chapels, we could commission larger paintings and artwork in other areas of the meetinghouse. In any case, paintings like this aren't common.

San Bernardino (CA) Ward & Stained Glass

I've mentioned on a few of my past posts the stained glass window in the Redlands California Temple, which depicts the first vision:

This piece was originally in a depression-era Latter-day Saint Chapel in San Bernardino, CA. Located at the corner of 9th and F streets, it was built in 1930. 

You can clearly see where the First Vision window was (above the main entrance). The members commissioned this window along with about a dozen smaller windows that showed various Church symbols, which lined the sides of the chapel:

A close-up look shows that the top halves of the windows all had colored panes and a shield, while the bottom halves had the circular icon in the center of colored panes. (The one below is the seagull monument, which we'll show further below in this post.)

 Pres. Heber J. Grant dedicated the chapel in 1935 (and criticized the First Vision window, since the Father and the Son did not look exactly alike, as recorded in the Pearl of Great Price).

In 1960 the Chapel was sold, stained glass and all. Church members in the area tried to buy the stained glass back later. In 1978 the new Church housed in the building agreed to sell the First Vision window. A local member, Charles Eastwood, bought the window and took care of it. It was moved to the Church's new building in San Bernardino in 1979. Meanwhile, other members eventually asked the new church to sell the smaller stained glass icons, and was successful. She kept them in storage. In exchange for both purchases, Church members replaced the stained glass with clear glass. Here's how it looks today:

On the side windows, only the bottom halves of the windows, with icons, were removed. The top halves, with their colored panes and shields, remain in the building.

When the Church announced the Redlands CA temple in 2002, they moved the First Vision window to the temple foyer, and the member brought the smaller icons to be restored and displayed at the open house. Most of my images of the smaller icons are not very good:

The Bible and Book of Mormon, under banners labelling them the "Stick of Judah" and "Stick of Joseph":

The moon, sun, and stars:

The beehive, sitting atop a stone with the word "Deseret":

A Native American:

The MIA (mutual improvement association; forerunner of the YM/YW organizations) logo, including the words "The Glory of God is Intelligence":

A pioneer woman crossing the plains:

A wheat field, with the words D&C 11 in a banner, referring to the section that speaks of "the field is white already to harvest":

Christ with the children:

A cactus and a rose, with the words "The Deseret [not desert] shall bloom as the rose":

A lyre, with the words of D&C, "The song of the righteous is a prayer unto me":

The top of the seagull monument in Temple Square:

The Angel Moroni:

The Salt Lake Temple along with the reference to Isaiah 2:3-4 ("Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord..."): 

I believe all but 2 of the icons are in private possession, and 2 of the icons remain in the chapel in Highland, CA, but can't confirm that quite yet. Either way, the first vision one is in display in the Redlands Temple, but all are unique and give a snapshot of what the saints in San Bernardino valued and cherished.