The second episode of The Cavallini Legacy, hosted by Justin McKenzie on The Building Texas Show, takes listeners inside the Cavallini & Co. studio in Texas. Published May 27, 2026, the episode explains why a single stained glass commission can take up to 18 months to complete and why no artificial intelligence can replicate the result.
The discussion covers how themes are developed in dialogue with parishioners, often tracing narratives from the Old Testament to the New Testament, including Creation, Moses, the Nativity, Resurrection, and Ascension. The episode also reveals the hidden structural engineering inside every panel, including rebars that transfer weight to the frame to prevent the glass and lead from bowing.
A central story involves the 18-year journey of Munich-style windows salvaged from St. Mary's Catholic Church in Port Arthur after Hurricane Rita. These windows are now being installed at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary in Houston, a church rebuilding after a natural gas explosion that destroyed the original building and claimed a parishioner's life. Cavallini purchased the Mysteries of the Rosary windows from the Diocese of Beaumont 18 years earlier, stored them, and recognized their fit for the new sacred space. Adrian Cavallini sent photographs to a committee member who, in the words of the elder Cavallini, "just fell in love with them." The studio is now creating the Luminous Mysteries to complete the set.
Throughout the episode, Cavallini and his son Adrian argue that patience and craft are inseparable from sacred art. Reflecting on modern design speed, McKenzie notes: "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."
The episode underscores the importance of preserving handmade artistry in an age of instant digital production. As congregations rebuild and restore churches, the demand for authentic, architect-grade sacred art remains high. Cavallini & Co., founded in 1953, has served Texas and beyond for over 70 years, designing and installing handcrafted stained glass windows. The full episode is available on podcast platforms.
