Who we are
The Stained Glass Project: Windows That Open Doors is a volunteer-run, community-centered after school arts program that provides Philadelphia public high school students with free access to the technically demanding and historically rich craft of stained glass. Each year, students from across the city gather weekly to work alongside artists, educators, and dedicated mentors, learning every stage of the stained glass process from design and glass cutting to copper foiling and soldering.
At The Stained Glass Project, we believe young people deserve access to high quality arts programming, meaningful mentorship, and creative spaces where they feel seen, challenged, and supported. That’s why our program is offered entirely free of charge, with all materials, instruction, transportation assistance, and meals provided at no cost to students. By removing financial and logistical barriers, we create access for young artists who may otherwise never have the opportunity to work in a specialized craft discipline.
Our studio is more than a classroom. It is a place of belonging, collaboration, and personal growth. Students develop technical skills, creative confidence, problem-solving abilities, and lasting relationships while working on projects that demand patience, precision, and trust in both themselves and one another. Participants also receive school service-learning credits, recognizing not only their artistic accomplishments, but their commitment to community engagement.
As a means of giving back, each student designs and makes a window each year in service to others. These windows are donated to nonprofits, schools, community centers, hospitals, houses of worship, and mission-driven organizations in Philadelphia and beyond. Through this process, students experience firsthand how their creativity can bring beauty, healing, and connection to the communities around them. Each finished piece becomes both a work of art and a lasting act of service.
We strive to serve as a safe, consistent, and inspiring creative home for young people across Philadelphia, proving that when students are given access, mentorship, and meaningful work, they create far more than art. They create purpose, pride, and lasting impact.
Where it All Began
The Stained Glass Project: Windows That Open Doors was founded in 2006 by artists and Paula Mandel and Joan Myerson Shrager, alongside a group of collaborators who believed deeply in the power of young people to create meaningful, lasting work through art. What began as a small, volunteer-run after-school program with a single group of Philadelphia public high school students has grown into a citywide community of young artists, mentors, and makers.
From the beginning, the vision was simple but ambitious: to give students access to a rigorous, hands-on studio experience in a highly technical art form, and to do so in a way that centers access, care, and purpose. Stained glass was chosen not only for its beauty, but for its demands. It requires patience, precision, collaboration, and trust in the process. It asks students to slow down, stay with complexity, and build something piece by piece over time.
Over the years, The Stained Glass Project has remained rooted in that original vision while expanding in reach and impact. Students from across Philadelphia come together weekly to learn the full process of stained glass fabrication, working side by side with artists and mentors in a shared studio space that prioritizes consistency, creativity, and community.
A defining part of the program from its earliest days has been its commitment to service. Each year, students create windows for a purpose beyond the studio and ultimately donated to schools, nonprofits, community centers, and mission-driven organizations. These works have traveled throughout Philadelphia and to communities across the United States and internationally, bringing light and presence into community spaces.
What began through the vision of Paula Mandel, Joan Myerson Shrager, and their collaborators continues today as an evolving, living program shaped by every student who steps into the studio. While the tools and hands have multiplied over time, the core belief remains unchanged: when young people are given access, trust, and meaningful work, they create art that reaches far beyond themselves.
SGP in the News
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Former UArts glass studio shines as home for nonprofit stained glass organization
Billy Penn
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Philadelphia’s former University of the Arts buildings become hubs for community and creativity
The Art Newspaper
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A glass act returns to a Roxborough recreation center
City of Philadelphia
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Philly High School Students Exhibit at Temple Judea Museum at KI
Patch Media
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Teaching Creativity One Cut of Glass at a Time
The Stained Glass Association of America
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Brotherly Love: Stained Glass Project Sends Smiles Across Oceans
CBS News
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Philly Kids Make Stained Glass to Brighten Lives
6abc
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Alumnae Expose High School Students to Art, Stained Glass Making
The Temple News
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Stained Glass Windows by GHS Students on Display at Drexel
Drexel News
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Miracle in Germantown: Windows to a New World Germantown's stained-glass miracle
Broad Street Review
