“SUPER/NATURAL”: Judith Schaechter’s eight-foot-tall stained-glass dome, representing a “three-tiered cosmos,” is on view at the Michener Museum in Doylestown, Pa., April 12 through September 14.

On view April 12 through September 14 at the Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, Pa., “Judith Schaechter: Super/Natural” is the first exhibition to feature the internationally known glass artist’s newest work, an eight-foot-tall stained-glass dome designed for a single viewer.

The immersive stained-glass environment represents a “three-tiered cosmos” that explores the idea of biophilia, the human tendency to connect with nature.

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,” said Schaechter. “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.

“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.

“The Michener is honored to be the first institution to exhibit Judith Schaechter’s ‘Super/Natural,’” said Michener Art Museum Executive Director Anne Corso. “Schaechter’s 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 Michener Art Museum is at 138 South Pine Street in Doylestown, Pa. Hours for interior viewing of the “Super/Natural” dome are 11 a.m.– 3 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday during museum hours. For more information, visit michenermuseum.org