By Alex B. Leeman
When the Campinas Brazil Temple is dedicated, it will be the 15th temple that BYU student, Scott Walton, has worked on.
Walton, 24, a Zoology major from Campbell, Calif., is an employee at Glass Images-an Orem company creating the stained glass windows for the Campinas Temple.
Walton, said he has done glasswork on about 15 temples doing everything from sandblasting, to engraving, to stained glass.
According to Walton, the Campinas project has been his favorite. He added that he personally worked on about a third of the windows.
'I''ve been able to be there from the ground up,' Walton said. 'It''s going to be spectacular. I know they''re going to look great.'
The contract for the Campinas Temple windows project was won by partners Dave Lynn, of Glass Images, and Doug Soelberg, of Architectural Art Glass, also of Orem.
Lynn and Soelberg also worked together on windows for the Albuquerque, N.M.; and St. Louis temples.
Work on the Campinas Temple project began last October. This week, the windows will be shipped to Brazil and installation work will begin on site. Seven employees will spend about three months in Brazil installing the windows.
Joshua Lynn, an employee at Glass Images and son of Dave Lynn, said the Campinas Temple windows are unique and original.
'There''s nothing like it, and nothing else will be made like it,' said Joshua Lynn.
According to Joshua Lynn, the design is primarily the work of Soelberg. He said Soelberg traveled to the temple site in Campinas before the project began to get a feel for the area and culture.
Walton added that although The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints must approve designs, Glass Images does have a lot of freedom in making the windows.
'Because it''s a smaller company, we get to do more of our design work,' Walton said. 'We''re kind of left to what we want to do.'
In all, 288 individual windows were made for the Campinas Temple.
The windows created for the Campinas Temple range in size from a small arch that measures about 2 by 3 feet, to the large 45-foot arch that will shine into the Celestial room.
The colors in the windows are symbolic. White represents purity, gold represents heaven and purple represents royalty associated with God.
The actual stained glass is set in a led frame, and sandwiched between two clear sheets of safety glass for protection. The completed window weighs about 11 pounds per square foot.
A 4 by 5 foot stained glass window typically costs between $500 and $1,000. The entire project has a shipping weight of 39,000 pounds.