Tucked away on a side street in Highland Park, Judson Studios is one of the oldest stained glass shops in the nation. For more than 125 years, the tiny family business has been preserving the centuries-old practice of soldering glass and lead together to make colorful, light-filled images.
In 2016, they took on a Herculean task: making the largest stained glass window in the world. And that years-long effort is chronicled in the documentary Holy Frit, which will have its public LA premiere this week.
The film, shot over the course of three and a half years, chronicles the collaboration between Judson’s lead artist and project designer Tim Carey and the contemporary glass artist Narcissus Quagliata, as they work to create a basketball-court-sized image of Jesus Christ for a megachurch in Kansas City.
Artists Tim Carey and Narcissus Quagliata spent years collaborating on the 100-by-40-foot work. Credit: Abramorama.
The task seemed nearly impossible at first, because aside from its sheer size, the artists also employed a complex glass fusion technique pioneered by Quagliata, which had never been used on a piece of this size.
Carey says that when he made the initial design, he wanted to ensure Judson stood out in the crowd and worry about the details later.
“When I started incorporating all these colors into my stained glass design, the truth is that I didn't really care at that moment, I just was so locked in on getting this job,” says Carey. “It's kind of like Jurassic Park. They didn't know how to make the dinosaurs, but they still wrote the script and started making the movie. That's how a lot of great art, in my opinion, gets made.”
The window used a glass fusing technique where different colors are melted together in a kiln. Credit: Abramorama.
When Justin Monroe, the film’s director and Carey’s neighbor, learned about what Judson was trying to achieve, he knew he had to document it. That process came with its own ups and downs.
“Behind the scenes, I'm freaking out,” says Monroe. “When it's falling apart, it doesn't look like it's going to happen, I'm feeling it all because I do want them to succeed. I don't want to tell a story about something that almost happened.”
It all paid off when in 2017, the 100-by-40-foot window was unveiled, to the awe of Kansas churchgoers.
“It actually broke my heart in such a beautiful way,” says Monroe. “And then to see the people see it was just incredible.”
Now, after several more years of editing and a stint on the festival circuit, Monroe is ready to reveal his own years-long effort to document this feat in glassmaking. Holy Frit will screen for a week at the Laemmle North Hollywood, starting November 10.