Press release. The following was issued by Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks & Mortuaries on Sept. 9, 2026, and is published as received. Canada News Media did not write or edit it.
From Albrecht Dürer designs and Leonardo da Vinci reimaginations, to contemporary pieces by Judson Studios and Narcissus Quagliata, Forest Lawn’s stained glass collection shines in the hands of Stained Glass Specialist Luis Porras.
LOS ANGELES, CA – Spanning six Southern California locations, Forest Lawn’s stained glass collection offers a master class in the art form. It features over 500 stained glass windows and panels, with artworks dating back to the Medieval and Renaissance periods, a stained glass reimagining of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper, and windows that interpret classic literary texts. There are works by famed stained glass houses like Judson Studios and artists such as Albrecht Dürer, Charles J. Connick, Rosa Caselli-Moretti, and Narcissus Quagliata. The stained glass brings light, color, and artistry to the memorial-parks’ churches, buildings, museum, and grounds. At the heart of it all is Stained Glass Specialist Luis Porras.
Luis has something of a fairy tale career. He started at Judson Studios at the age of 16. While working in the rectory of Saint Ignatius, his sister received a call from Walter Judson, who was seeking an apprentice, and she recommended Luis for the position. During his 25 years at Judson, Luis learned how to make, restore, and install stained glass and became an expert in the craft. At Forest Lawn, Luis manages and maintains the entire six-park collection. He cleans pieces, often panel by panel, restoring works that are sometimes hundreds of years old to their original luster. He surveys the collection and repairs works when broken, searching far into the stained glass community to locate a particular color or type of glass that is no longer used. He works across styles and time periods to keep the collection glowing.
“It is an honor to be the protector and steward of Forest Lawn’s most comprehensive and significant stained glass collection,” said Porras. “Stained glass is painting with light, and the memorial-parks are the preeminent place to witness the majesty of and learn about the many facets of this centuries-old medium.”
Forest Lawn has stained glass at all six parks, with many highlights at the Glendale, Long Beach, and Covina Hills locations. Forest Lawn-Glendale highlights Old World art and architecture, yet the park has a full range of stained glass styles on view. Glendale’s Great Mausoleum houses many significant works, including Rosa Caselli-Moretti’s The Last Supper Window, a full-scale stained glass recreation of da Vinci’s masterpiece, created in Italy in the 1930s; as well as the Poets’ Corridor Windows, crafted mostly by Western Decorative Glass of Oakland, California, in mid-1920s, with each window accompanied by an excerpt from a poem. Luis is currently restoring the Begonia Terrace Skylight, a stained glass skylight that extends over the 200-foot Begonia Terrace ceiling. Judson Studios did the windows in the gothic-style Hall of Crucifixion Resurrection (HOCR) during 1949-1951, and the 11-foot diameter Rose Window graces the façade of the building. Forest Lawn Museum manages the entire collection. The museum building features Gothic and Renaissance windows acquired from William Randolph Hearst’s collection that date back to early 13th to late 16th century France and Germany. The 500-year-old Albrecht Dürer Window is based on drawings by this key figure of European art and is arguably the most important work in the collection. In addition, stained glass virtuoso Narcissus Quagliata’s Brushstrokes of Space is currently housed in the museum.
Forest Lawn-Long Beach’s Spanish colonial-style Sunnyside Mausoleum has stunning stained glass skylights; the dreamy Fairy Window, alight with colorful winged figures; and The Pilgrim of Love, made by the Los Angeles Art Glass Company in the 1920s. The Pilgrim of Love depicts a scene from Washington Irving’s 1832 novel Tales of the Alhambra, the original source of Aladdin, and is distinct in its use of a horseshoe or Moorish arch, drawing on the building’s homage to the Alhambra in Spain.
Forest Lawn-Covina Hills houses the Founding Fathers Window by Judson Studios, which has been creating works for Forest Lawn since the early twentieth century. The religious stained glass in Covina Hills’s churches brings viewers back to the Medieval origins of stained glass as a didactic tool that conveyed religious stories to a population that largely could not read and had limited access to books.
“We take pride in housing one of the most significant stained glass collections in the United States and in the centuries-old and contemporary works that comprise it, as we do in knowing Luis’s expertise in and care for it will keep it accessible for generations,” said Rodolfo Saenz, Senior Vice President, Marketing at Forest Lawn. “We welcome our community to come experience these important pieces of history and see how Luis’s work enables them to breathe light and life into our memorial-parks.”
See more of Luis’s work and Forest Lawn’s world-class stained glass collection by visiting all six locations. Guided tours of the Glendale park are available via the Bloomberg Connects free digital art guide. Find more information on Forest Lawn’s website and in Forest Lawn Museum’s Top 10 Stained Glass Windows videos, Part 1 and Part 2.
Upcoming events
- Día De Los Muertos celebrations on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, at the memorial parks in Glendale, Covina Hills and Cypress, and on Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, in Cathedral City.
- Veterans Day Celebration at Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026.
- Our Lady of Guadalupe celebration at the Glendale memorial park, Saturday, Dec. 12, 2026.
- More events: forestlawn.com/events.
About Forest Lawn Museum
Forest Lawn Museum first opened in 1952 and is now comprised of three galleries and a gift shop. The permanent collection of sculpture, painting, stained glass windows, mosaics, and architecture is spread across Forest Lawn’s six Southern California locations. Admission and parking to Forest Lawn Museum, the Hall of Crucifixion-Resurrection, and the Great Mausoleum are free. Great Mausoleum visiting hours: daily from 9:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. For more information or to schedule a free group tour, call 323-340-4782, email [email protected], or visit museum.forestlawn.com.
About Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks & Mortuaries
For more than a century, Forest Lawn has been an integral part of Southern California, with locations in Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties that serve all faiths and cultures.
Media contact
Tom Smith, Forest Lawn
323-340-4742
[email protected]
