The second episode of The Cavallini Legacy, hosted by Justin McKenzie on The Building Texas Show, delves into the intricate 18-month process behind creating a handcrafted stained glass window at Cavallini & Co., a Texas-based studio with over 70 years of experience. Published May 27, 2026, the episode arrives as houses of worship rebuild and restore, driving interest in artisan craftsmanship. It underscores why authentic stained glass commissions require patience and skill that no AI template can replicate.
The discussion reveals the studio's approach to developing themes in dialogue with parishioners, often tracing narratives from the Old Testament to the New Testament, including Creation, Moses, the Nativity, Resurrection, and Ascension. The hidden structural engineering inside each panel is also explored, including the rebars that transfer weight to the frame and prevent the glass and lead from bowing under its own weight.
A central story is the 18-year journey of Munich-style windows salvaged from St. Mary's Catholic Church in Port Arthur after Hurricane Rita, now being installed at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary in Houston. After a natural gas explosion destroyed the original church and claimed a parishioner's life, the congregation rebuilt. Cavallini had purchased the Mysteries of the Rosary windows from the Diocese of Beaumont 18 years earlier, stored them, and recognized their fit. Adrian Cavallini sent photographs to a committee member who, in the elder Cavallini's words, "just fell in love with them." The studio is now creating the Luminous Mysteries to blend with the existing set.
Throughout the episode, Mr. Cavallini and his son Adrian argue that patience and craft are inseparable from sacred art. McKenzie reflects on the modern pace of design: "Employees coming in here working on a project that might take a year and a half to complete because it is detail-oriented or it's 50,000 square feet of mosaic that takes detail and time. It's not AI is going to create it in 30 seconds and here it is. And I worry for our economy and our workforce on how do we bring that patience back to something as meaningful as the work you're doing."
The episode is part of The Cavallini Legacy series, which spotlights one of the state's longest-running sacred art studios, founded in 1953. Episode 2 is available now wherever podcasts are heard. For more on Cavallini & Co., visit their website.
