St. Thomas Aquinas Church Dedication Mass

April 12, 2015

The Dedication Mass of St. Thomas Aquinas Church is celebrated this afternoon! Clark Architects Collaborative 3 has been honored to be the architect of a project that will impact so many lives. We were privileged to work with the following talented consultants, engineers, and artisans from around the world:

McCrery Architects
Denis McNamara, Ph.D.
Structural Design Group
Advanced Engineering Systems
C & C Consultants
Franz Mayer of Munich
Evergreene Architectural Arts
Mountain View Millworks
Gold Leaf Studios

After 7-1/2 of development - including nearly two years of construction - it is truly an exciting day for so many people.

St. Patrick, Lincoln: Stained Glass Painting and Repair

March 6, 2015

March 5, 2015

The stained glass windows for St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Lincoln, NE are back in the hands of those who made them nearly a century ago. Emil Frei and Associates removed the windows back in November and since have been repairing the windows at their studio in St. Louis, MO. The repairs include: replacement or repair of broken pieces of stained glass, re-soldering the lead joints, reinforcing the windows with new horizontal bars, and cleaning of the windows.

In addition to the repairs, two windows require a new border to be created along the bottom section to fit into it's new window opening at St. Patrick's. First the design is determined which complements the original window taking cues from the existing border. Then mouth blown glass is selected, cut, painted with metal oxides, and fired so that the oxides fuse to the glass. Finally, the new section will be leaded to the existing window.

Photo Credit: Emil Frei & Associates

St. Thomas Construction Update - Feb 2015

February 27, 2015

The Mayer of Munich team completed the install of the sanctuary window and south rose window this week with the assistance of our friends at Glass Edge. Every panel fit perfectly! We love that German engineering. Bedient Organ began the assembly of their tracker pipe organ on Wednesday and will continue the effort over the next two weeks. The contractor has begun finishing the exterior paving and hopes to install the corinthian capitals next week. Five years ago last week the Diocese of Lincoln instructed the team to study the idea of a new building instead of a renovation. And today, five years later, we are now five weeks from the dedication of the church. What an amazing journey this has been.

Keyboard Restoration for St. Thomas' Organ

February 19, 2015

As the dedication of St. Thomas Aquinas Church at the University of Nebraska - Lincoln approaches, key elements will be installed into the church. One such element, the pipe organ was removed from the Cornerstone Church, which was the Newman Center's temporary home for over a year, and restored at Bedient's shop in Rulo, NE. Over the past year they have been restoring and repairing the organ, Bedient's own Opus 8. Watch the below video to learn about the process of restoring the organ's keyboard.

Mentoring at St. James in Crete, Nebraska

February 6, 2015

On January 23rd, Kevin Clark visited with students at St. James School in Crete, Nebraska. Clark spent the day presenting on art, architect, and how it relates to the Catholic faith. The latest edition of the Southern Nebraska Register, the weekly newspaper for the Diocese of Lincoln, captured the below photo of Clark explaining the finer points of architecture to two of St. James' students. It is always a wonderful opportunity to pass along this information to future generations.