SCULPTURE AND STAINED GLASS CENTRE
History
In the second half of the 20th century, the activities of the Art Factories (kombinatai) in Lithuania expanded and the number of commissions for sculpture and monumental works increased dramatically. Thus, in the 1980s (around 1985–1986), as part of the expansion of such a factory, the Sculpture and Stained Glass Centre was built in Vilnius. It is a complex of buildings with a huge hangar, where monuments of historical memory, sculptures, stained glass and works for public spaces have been and still are created. Historical sculptures and monuments have been created here to decorate the squares of Vilnius, as well as the most famous stained-glass windows, frescoes and panels. The sculptors and monumental artists who worked at the Art Factory were transferred to the Sculpture and Stained Glass Centre, which was built especially for this purpose, and which housed and worked with some of the most famous Lithuanian sculptors, such as Juozas Mikėnas, Bronius Pundzius, Robertas Antinis, Konstantinas Bogdanas, and Gediminas Karalius, Juozas Kalinauskas, Vladas Urbanavičius, Daliutė Ona Matulaitė, Rimantas Daugintis, Jonas Vasilevičius, as well as the most famous stained-glass artists – Kazimieras Morkūnas, Konstantinas Šatūnas (whose initiative and work resulted in the stained-glass workshop), and the production section was staffed by stonecutters and implementers of the works.
Since the Sculpture and Stained Glass Centre was founded, it has created culturally important and valuable works for public spaces and buildings in various Lithuanian cities. The very first work created here was Rimantas Daugintis’ “Lakštingala” (Nightingale), which is still standing in S. Konarskio Street, Vilnius. The Centre also created sculptures by sculptors Juozas Kalinauskas, Jonas Naruševičius and Antanas Žukauskas on the façade of the Opera and Ballet Theatre (1990), Juozas Mikėnas’ sculpture “Pirmosios Kregdždės” (First Swallows, 1987) at the National Gallery of Art, Daliutė Ona Matulaitė’s “Seserys” (Sisters) – a monument to Lazdynų Pelėda in Vilnius (1995) and “Gražina” (1999) at the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, a monument by the sculptor Bronius Vyšniauskas dedicated to the linguist Kazimieras Būga in Dusetos, “Žmogus” (Man) by Petras Mazūras on the façade of the Mykolas Žilinskas Art Gallery (1986), stained-glass windows by stained-glass artist Konstantinas Šatūnas at the Palace of Marriage in Vilnius (1974), stained-glass window “Muzika” (Music, 1986) at St. Vainiūnas Art School, the stained glass window for the “Baltija” holiday home (1986–1988), and these are just a few of the most important works created at the centre in the early period.
Daliutė Ona Matulaitė, Sisters (1995)
After the restoration of Lithuania’s independence, the Sculpture and Stained Glass Centre became a division of the Lithuanian Artists’ Association, and the number of commissions for monumental art works decreased, so the Centre became a home for residencies of independently working and creating artists. The Centre still possesses all the necessary technical infrastructure for production of large-scale works. Over the last couple of decades, the Sculpture and Stained Glass Centre has created and produced works that shape the cultural context of Vilnius today – “Kilimėlis” (Carpet) by Kazys Venclova in Žirmūnai microdistrict, memorial plaque by Asta Vasiliauskaitė to Romualdas Kunca in Užupis, Mykolas Sauka’s sculpture park in Viršuliškės, a sculpture dedicated to Jonas Basanavičius or Vladas Jurgutis by Gediminas Piekuras in Vilnius Old Town, and a portrait of conductor Jonas Aleksa in the National Opera and Ballet Theatre, as well as the majority of the sculptures in the European Park, which was created next to the City of Vilnius, as well as other works were also produced here.
Sculptures by Juozas Kalinauskas, Jonas Naruševičius and Antanas Žukauskas on the façade of the Opera and Ballet Theatre (1990)