The Main Library at Goodwood (designed by Tipton Associates, Cockfield Jackson, and PSA Dewbery) is the perfect destination if you’re looking for something new to check out: a bestselling book, a board game, a piece of art, a family activity set. The latest attraction can’t be taken home, though. You’ll have to visit again and again to best enjoy the installation of a book-filled rainbow frieze by Baton Rouge’s renowned stained-glass artist Stephen Wilson.
Wilson’s gorgeous glasswork can be found in churches, libraries, homes, and hospitals around the country. He graduated from LSU with an MFA in stained glass in 1978, studying under Paul Dufour. Wilson credits civic leader Ward Bond for his initial success out of school, as he learned to network and present his ideas to architects and potential donors. Bond introduced Wilson to Jack McIlhenney, of the Avery Island McIlhenneys who produce Tabasco. McIlhenney funded the stained glass installation at the downtown Centroplex Branch of the Library, which broke ground in 1977.
The original library was demolished in 2017 and replaced by the River Center Branch, completed in 2020. Wilson made sure to salvage his contribution before the building came down. “I wanted to make a gift to the library system, for all the work they’ve given me,” said Wilson. He repurposed the panels into a new work co-designed with his team members Colt Hurst and Paul Jackson. “It was something they could do between commissions,” said Wilson. “I came up with the initial design and then they worked out the details and changed a few things.”
Wilson was involved with the coordination and installation of the other two stained-glass works at the Main Library, which were designed by landscape architect Jon Emerson. With this latest work, he’s enjoyed much greater creative control, from the imagery (books and evocative animals including a goose, a whale, and a dolphin) to choosing a location that will optimize sunlight at different times of the day and year. The glass hues shift from clear to high value, light colors all the way down to low value, darker colors. “In a lot of installations in stained glass, there will be the stained glass image with clear around it. The retina of your eye wants to open up to receive the deep color. But the brightness will shut the retina down. This way, they’re all connected.”
The artwork wraps around the double-height lobby of the East Baton Rouge Parish Library’s main branch, a ribbon of warmth that assistant director Mary Stein says will “hug and encapsulate you” as you enter or exit. Varicolored panels feature rows of books with the titles etched lightly on the spine. You can play a game of catching them all, from Jamberry and Winnie the Pooh to The Brothers Karamazov, The Moviegoer, and Moby-Dick. The titles were suggested by Wilson’s men’s book club as well as his wife, Claire, a retired librarian who now serves as director of the nonprofit Bethany Centre Alliance, supporting a school in Uganda.
Like the library, the artwork offers something for everyone. Stein is already filled with ideas for celebrating the new feature: “We’re going to make coloring sheets. We can put it on bookmarks. Oh, this could be great for summer reading!”
Her enthusiasm is shared by a middle-school boy passing through the lobby. “Cool,” he said to his friend, “They’re doing stained glass!”
“What a gift you’ve given us with your talent and your skills to do this,” said Stein to WIlson. “It’s beautiful.”