When the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in downtown Birmingham killed four girls and blew out windows throughout the building, John Petts, a stained-glass artist from Carmarthenshire a county in the southwest nation of Wales, launched a campaign to fund and create a new window as a gift for the church 4,000 miles away.
Petts’ depiction of a Black Christ is recognized throughout the world as one of the Civil Rights Movement’s most iconic pieces of art and stands at the front of the church. The right hand pushing away hatred and injustice, the left offering forgiveness. The glass was installed in 1965.
Last week, church members commemorated the 60th Anniversary of the Wales Window with a ceremony that highlighted Welsh Government’s collaboration with Birmingham Sister Cities, and the City of Birmingham…