The Michener Art Museums original exhibition, Judith Schaechter: Super/Natural, is the first to feature the internationally-known glass artists newest, monumental work, a stunning eight-foot-tall stained-glass dome designed for a single viewer. On view from April 12 to Sept. 14, the immersive stained-glass environment, also titled just 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 Schaechters recent work, explores relationships between art, beauty, morality, and the brain. The Super/Natural domes 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, said Schaechter. We are ultimately connected to, not just observing, nature. Curated by Laura Turner Igoe, Ph.D., the Michener Art Museums 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. It was thrilling to work with Judith on this exhibition and see the Super/Natural dome evolve over the past couple of years, said Igoe. 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. Schaechters 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. The Michener is honored to be the first institution to exhibit Judith Schaechters Super/Natural, said Michener Art Museum executive director Anne Corso. Schaechters work honors the tradition of stained glass and yet pushes the boundaries of the medium with her intricate process and complex imagery; it is truly awe-inspiring. The exhibition is supported by the Gorsky Family, Rago/Wright, with additional support from Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass and an anonymous donor. The Super/Natural dome will next appear in an exhibition presented by the Museum of Craft and Design in San Francisco, Calif. Special interior viewing for the Judith Schaechter: Super/Natural dome is available at the exhibition. Hours for interior viewing dome are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday during museum hours. The Michener Art Museum is located at 138 S. Pine Street, Doylestown, Pa. To learn more, visit www.michenerartmuseum.org.