The biggest community project in Falmouth Art Gallery’s history has concluded with the formal unveiling of Cornwall’s largest contemporary stained glass window and warm praise from the instigator of the pioneering Kids In Museums charity.

Over the past two years, more than 2,000 people have been involved in various ways in the “Celebrating Cornwall’s Stained Glass Heritage” project. Aided by a £50,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, it has transformed the foyer of Falmouth’s Municipal Buildings, home of the Art Gallery, Falmouth Town Council and Falmouth Library.

Fittingly, on the Fund’s 15th birthday (05 Nov 2009), some 200 guests from all over Cornwall and further afield assembled in the historic buildings for a ceremony to mark the innovative project’s completion.

Taking centre stage, literally, was the giant 15ft x 11ft window overlooking the central stairway in the foyer. This has been designed by service users of Falcare (formerly Mencap).

Also catching the eye were another magnificent large stained glass window, designed by children from Kerrier Pupil Referral Unit, and a wall of over a hundred tiles marked by babies and toddlers aged from two weeks to four years.

Guests heard that the designs for the windows had been approved by councillors, conservation officers, planners and interested members of the public and community groups, who had all received them enthusiastically.

St Tudy-based stained glass artist Mike Welch had been appointed to make the windows, using glass supplied at reduced cost by Newquay Glass.

The outcome was praised by the ceremony’s guest speaker Dea Birkett, the Guardian writer whose experience at the Royal Academy – when her two-year-old son was thrown out for making noise – led to the formation of Kids In Museums, the charity that helps museums and galleries become more family-friendly. “Projects like this change people’s lives,” Dea told the Falmouth gathering. “People throughout Britain are looking to Falmouth as a beacon of how it can be done.

“Falmouth Art Gallery is doing fantastic work, including absolutely wonderful things involving really young children. So many galleries don’t work with young children, but here absolutely everyone is included and huge numbers have been involved in this project.”

When designing the main new window, the Falcare service users attended workshops in the Art Gallery and were not told the nature of the final product, in order to preserve spontaneity. A similar workshop was held at the Kerrier Pupil Referral Unit in Redruth.

For the spot tiles created by the local babies and toddlers, ceramicist Linda Styles made a template that complemented the 18th Century tiles on the opposite wall. She left a blank disc in the centre of each tile for the participants’ spot tiles, which were cut from clay after they were marked by little feet, hands, fingers and tools at 14 workshops.

“This whole project has been phenomenally successful,” said the Mayor of Falmouth, Councillor Geoffrey Evans. “There are countless facets to the project, with so many people contributing, but more than anything it has brought about a great sense of involvement and achievement for groups of people who would not normally have such an opportunity.

“The upshot is an invaluable spotlight on Cornwall’s stained glass heritage and the total transformation of the foyer of Falmouth’s Municipal Buildings.”

The transformation has been made complete with the copying by traditional craftsmen of missing skirting board and dado rails and their installation to replace the more recent features. Four major marine paintings – two by Charles Napier Hemy RA and two by William Ayerst Ingram – have also been carefully preserved and re-hung. The overall project has included a host of other creative workshops, outreach activities, visits, special events and parties.