Debut of renowned Philadelphia glass artist Judith Schaechter’s largest-scale work opens at Michener Art Museum with new exhibition, Super/Natural

Reported on Wednesday, April 2, 2025.

Pictured Above: “Judith Schaechter, Super/Natural (detail), 2023-2025. Stained-glass panels and wood frame, 96 x 60 x 60 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Claire Oliver Gallery, NYC, with support from the Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics. Photo by Christian Giannelli.

NEWSROOM POST: DOYLESTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA

Produced by Schaechter as a Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics artist-in-residence, the stained-glass dome is featured at the Michener, a Bucks County art museum known for American craft, before touring the country

Doylestown, PA -Michener Art Museum’s original exhibition, Judith Schaechter: Super/Natural, is the first to feature the internationally-known glass artist’s newest, monumental work, a stunning eight-foot-tall stained-glass dome designed for a single viewer.

On view from April 12–September 14, 2025, the immersive stained-glass environment, also titled Super/Natural, represents a “three-tiered cosmos” that explores the idea of biophilia, the human tendency to connect with nature.

Judith Schaechter, who lives and works in Philadelphia, produced Super/Natural in a year and a half as artist-in-residence at the Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics. While creating this multi-tiered masterpiece of glass craft, she attended lab meetings with a pioneering team of researchers and scientists who study the neural and biological basis of aesthetic experiences. Their research, and Schaechter’s recent work, explores relationships between art, beauty, morality, and the brain.

The Super/Natural dome’s 65 panels are filled with a riot of imagined insects, flora, plants, and birds, encouraging visitors to imagine themselves subsumed in the natural world, with all its beauty, violence, decay, and growth. The central stained-glass structure, reminiscent of a church, creates a sublime sanctuary space for the secular.

“My goal is to invite viewers into a deeply personal, immersive experience that explores the connections between self, nature, and imagination,” Schaechter said. “We are ultimately connected to, not just observing, nature.”

Curated by Laura Turner Igoe, Ph.D., the Michener Art Museum’s Gerry and Marguerite Lenfest Chief Curator, Judith Schaechter: Super/Natural will feature nine additional stained-glass pieces by Schaechter to complement the dome and provide a context for the debut of her new work. These pieces similarly examine the cultural construction of nature, and are presented along with a series of drawings and sketches related to the Super/Natural dome.

Pictured Above: Judith Schaechter, Super/Natural (detail), 2023-2025. Stained-glass panels and wood frame, 96 x 60 x 60 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Claire Oliver Gallery, NYC, with support from the Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics. Photo by Christian Giannelli.

“It was thrilling to work with Judith on this exhibition and see the Super/Natural dome evolve over the past couple of years,” Igoe said. “Through the dome and other pieces on view in Judith Schaechter:

Super/Natural, Judith embraces awe and wonder in order to encourage viewers to consider their own relationship with the natural world.”

Schaechter’s work is collected internationally and included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Smithsonian, Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Hermitage in Russia, along with numerous others. Among other honors, Schaechter was inducted into the American Craft Council of College Fellows in 2013, received a lifetime achievement award from the Glass Art Society in 2022, and was the recipient of the Smithsonian Visionary Award in 2024.

Interior Viewing for the Judith Schaechter: Super/Natural dome, on view at the Judith Schaechter: Super/Natural exhibition April 12– September 14, 2025: Hours for interior viewing of
the Super/Natural dome are 11 a.m.– 3 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday during museum hours.

Related Exhibition Programming for Judith Schaechter:

Super/Natural, on view April 12– September 14, 2025:

Make & Mingle: Metal Tooling inspired by Judith Schaechter

Thursday, May 1 / 6–8 p.m.
$40 Member / $50 Non-Member
Join us for a one-night workshop exploring metal tooling inspired by the vibrant flora and fauna in Schaechter’s stained-glass art. Learn to manipulate soft metal sheets, creating textured designs that reflect nature’s beauty. Designed for all abilities, no previous skills required!

Art After Dark: Kaleidoscope of Colors

Thursday, May 1 / 6–8 p.m.
Free for Members / Included with General Admission
Enjoy a fun, casual evening at the Museum! With live music, cash bar, and a self-guided scavenger hunt, explore our galleries through the lens of colors. Weather permitting, bar and music will be outdoors. Bar service available to those 21+ only. No outside alcohol permitted.

Artist Talk with Judith Schaechter

Wednesday, May 14 / 1–2 p.m.
$10 Member / $20 Non-Member
Hear from the artist herself about her unique glass practice and how the dome project came to life through a pairing with Penn Medicine’s Center for Neuroaesthetics.

Beyond Words Book Club: The Glassmaker

Thursday, June 5 / 6:30–8 p.m.
Thursday, July 17 / 1–2:30 p.m.
$10 Member / $20 Non-Member (per session)
For lovers of reading and art, Beyond Words is a chance to explore literary selections through thoughtful conversation and gallery selections. The Glassmaker, by Tracy Chevalier, will be paired with pieces from Schaechter’s exhibition. Explore connections between Chevalier’s tale of glassmakers and their connection to Schaechter’s pieces and practice.

Pictured Above: Artist Judith Schaechter seated within Super/Natural, 2023-2025. Stained-glass panels and wood frame, 96 x 60 x 60 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Claire Oliver Gallery, NYC, with support from the Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics. Photo by Christian Giannelli.

About the Artist:

Judith Schaechter is a renowned glass artist who has lived and worked in Philadelphia since graduating in 1983 with a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design Glass Program. She has exhibited widely, including in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, the Hague, and Växjö, Sweden. She is the recipient of many grants, including the Guggenheim Fellowship, two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships in Crafts, The Louis Comfort Tiffany Award, the Joan Mitchell Award, two Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Awards, The Pew Fellowship in the Arts, and a Leeway Foundation grant. Her work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Hermitage in Russia, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Corning Museum of Glass, the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution, and numerous other public and private collections. Schaechter was inducted into the American Craft Council of College Fellows in 2013, and, in 2024, she was the recipient of the Smithsonian Visionary Award.