Judith Schaechter inside Eastern State Penitentiary in a still from her project video.
When Eastern State Penitentiary opened in Philadelphia in 1829, it was on the forefront of prison reform. Its architecture was informed by new theories that crime was a result of overcrowded, chaotic conditions. Strongly influenced by the city’s Quaker culture, Eastern State was built to create an environment of quiet contemplation for inmates to reflect upon their deeds and rehabilitate themselves through an extended period of complete solitude. One of the most expensive buildings ever constructed in the U.S. at the time, the prison was state-of-the-art with indoor plumbing, individually heated cells, and terraces for inmates to spend time alone outdoors. It became a major influence on prison design internationally, and a tourist attraction, though it would eventually be modified to allow inmate social interaction after the perils of total solitary confinement were discovered. Since 1994, the prison reopened as a historic attraction, and a venue for art installations and performances.
Judith Schaechter, Hemophilia, 2005. Stained glass. H 48, W 23 in.
Philadelphia-based artist Judith Schaechter was inspired by the prison’s Gothic vaulted ceilings and archways, as well as the dramatically lit individual cells. A United States Artist Fellow in 2008, she has proposed an ambitious project to design and install 10 new stained glass windows and leave them on view for 10 months, in a United States Artists Project Site initiative that will bring together one of Philadelphia’s major artists with the city’s most unique venues for art.
“As a stained glass artist, I make work sourced in the Gothic tradition combined with contemporary narratives,” Schaechter writes on the project’s Website. “I am interested in ideas of beauty and I believe radiant light and color can communicate profoundly and effectively. I would describe my imagery as addressing; in a non-religious way the psychological border territory between ‘spiritual aspiration’ and human suffering. It has been my experience that my work appeals to those who are in transition. My audience is, to some extent those who occupied the cells as well as the current visitors who may identify with such a struggle.”
Beyond the sheer scale of the 10 windows, the project represents a major step for Schaechter, whose work, with rare exceptions, has been seen mostly in wall installations in front of light boxes. This will be her first major architectural project in which her panels are lit by natural light, through a single window placed just above human height, similar to where windows are located in a cathedral. The prison represents a uniquely appropriate venue for the artist since it reverberates with ecclesiastical atmosphere but was built for a secular purpose. An avowed atheist, Schaechter’s work, and her devotion to the concept of objective beauty, shares this quasi-religious tension.
“My atheist upbringing accounts for my attraction to the spiritual aspect of transmitted light,” she has said. “Some medieval guy said it best when he said stained glass is enlightenment embodied.”
As Schaechter states on her project Website, this lighted window becomes a metaphor, originally designed for self-reflection in hopes of generating a Quaker epiphany, they provide a pure example of light as embodiment of enlightenment. It also provides what could be the ultimate setting for an artist with such a dedication to the divinely ecstatic experience of color, light, and image.
“I have often been asked: ‘What is the ideal architectural setting for your work?’ Schaechter writes on her Website. “The answer is Eastern State Penitentiary.”
Judith Schaechter, a 2008 United States Artists Fellow, is using the organization's new Project Site to coordinate funding for her ambitious project.
Of course any project of this scale requires a dedication of time and money. Before it goes on view from March — November 2012, the panels have to be created. While Schaechter has secured funding for the materials and installation, and she plans to continue with her part-time teaching schedule during the project, she is seeking to raise an additional $5,000 to defray her living expenses while she dedicates herself to realizing this ambitious project. She is more than halfway to her goal, having raised nearly $2,855, but must raise an additional $2,145 in the next 55 days. Supporters can give anywhere from $40 (and get a hand-written thank-you) to $100 (and get an archival print) to $250 (and receive a 3-inch kaleidoscopic patterned glass disc) in appreciation.
Donations can be made online via this link, where you can also learn more about this project, and watch an informative video.