Noted Claremont stained glass artist, mother

Noted Claremont artist and stained glass maker Jane Slater Marquis, 98, died at her home in Claremont on the afternoon of March 26.

Born Elizabeth Jane Slater in Ogden, Utah, in 1922, she went by her middle name—Jane—and graduated from Black Mountain College in North Carolina in 1944. While attending the experimental college she became a student and protege of influential artist Josef Albers. 

Although the college closed in the 1950s, it became famous for its faculty and students. Ms. Marquis was frequently interviewed for books written about Black Mountain, many of which feature her artwork from her time at the school.

In 1944, she married Lucian Marquis, who was then securing his PhD at UCLA. Following the birth of their son Joshua, in 1952, the couple moved to Eugene, Oregon, where Lucian taught at the University of Oregon and Ms. Marquis designed campaign brochures for then U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy and other Democratic politicians. In 1955, daughter Annie was born in Eugene.

In the 1960s, she turned her artistic efforts toward stained glass. Over the following 40 years she designed and built scores of windows, installations and glass sculptures.

Among her best-known works are the windows at Rodef Sholom Temple in San Rafael, California; the baptistry windows at St. Matthews Episcopal Church in Pacific Palisades;  California; and the windows at the Church of the Nativity in Rancho Santa Fe, California.

Her work was prominent in architect Brenda Levin’s redesign of the Oviatt Building in downtown Los Angeles, and was featured in the science buildings at the University of Oregon. She also designed, built, and in many cases installed windows on commission for a variety of private residences across the country. Her early work from Black Mountain is on permanent display at the Harvard Art Museums in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

Mr. Marquis, a beloved political science professor at Pitzer College from 1966 to 1990, died in 2005. 

She is survived by her son Joshua (Cynthia Price), and daughter Annie (Sam Phipps). She was the last surviving of five siblings.

The family expresses its deepest thanks to the nurses of VNA Hospice and Palliative Care of Southern California and asks that any memorial donations be made in Ms. Marquis’ name to the organization at https://vnasocal.org/donate-to-vna/.