Riversink’s library now has a stained glass picture of an otter, the school mascot, floating on his back reading a book
A stained glass window made by local artists Lou and Margy Callaghan was recently installed in the library at Riversink Elementary School.
Margy Callaghan is a retired teacher who worked at Riversink for nine years, starting when the school opened in 2008, and has been making stained glass art alongside her husband Lou for 45 years.
As part of a fundraiser for the school, she had made and donated a small stained glass window, which had been won by the school’s principal at the time, Jackie High. Until Mrs. High retired, that window was displayed in the library.
When Mrs. High retired, she took the window home with her, which sparked plans between Callaghan and Riversink Librarian Katie Hart to get a full sized stained glass window installed.
“Ever since then I wanted something else back up there.” Hart says. “I wanted something like that, the whole window.”
“She bugged me for 10 years to do this window,” says Margy Callaghan. “Finally, we were done with all of our projects, and I said ‘I think it’s time that we get that window done.’”
They eventually landed on the final design, which features an otter, the school’s mascot, reading a book to encourage students to read.
It also incorporates cattails, which commonly grow along bodies of water and are growing out in front of the school. The window was made by the Callaghans in about two weeks, and was installed last week.
The stained glass window is made by cutting pieces of colored glass out of a larger sheet, and then fitting them into a cohesive design and sealing the panels together with lead.
“It’s the traditional leaded stained glass process,” says Lou Callaghan. “Which goes back a thousand years, two thousand years, actually. Every piece is individual.”
Before moving to Wakulla, the Callaghans lived in Tallahassee and St. Augustine, where they did private work, as well as pieces for storefronts, restaurants, and churches.
“We have windows really all over the world,” Margy Callaghan says. “We had a stained glass studio for 22 years in St. Augustine, and then we decided to get real jobs and I started teaching and he started building.”
