THE PLAN

This is the Rockwell Museum, where our caper takes place. It is an American art museum and Smithsonian Affiliate located in Corning, NY on the corner of Denison Pkwy and Cedar St. The museum holds a broad collection of fine art pieces (they won't notice if one or two go missing, will they?). The building itself is Corning's former city hall. It is three stories tall, with a rooftop terrace in the back connecting to the third floor. You can click the image above to learn more about the museum. It even gives the local community college students free admission! The item we're trying to score is on the third floor.

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THE TARGET

Robert Rauschenberg, OPAL GOSPEL, The Rockwell Museum, Corning, NY, 1971

Description on the placard:

By leaving the arrangement of Opal Gospel to the whim of the owner, Robert Rauschenberg envisioned a work that would deeply resonate with the viewer regardless of any changes to the order. Although not Native American himself, Rauschenberg was greatly influenced by the presence of indigenous tropes in pop culture, especially as appropriated by the self-help and new age movements of the 1970s. Because of this, some critics consider Rauschenberg's use of Native American literature inauthentic. The artist, however, felt that combining his imagery with Native American poetry in a sculpture that can be reassembled in an assortment of ways would communicate to everyone.

Steps

1. Temporarily disable the building's camera system

Once we get to the museum, Goose will take care of this step with his 1337 h4ck1ng skillz (that's how Goose described it. I still don't know exactly what it means). This will give us about 10 minutes to get in, do what we're going to do, and get out. We have to be careful when we do this, because it will place security on high alert.

2. Find a way into the building and get to the third floor

We have a couple of options here:

- Obviously the front lobby door is a no-go. We'll be easily spotted, plus that is the side closest to Corning PD, the cops would be on top of us in no time, so don't panic and go crashing through the front door or anything.

- We can scale up to the Terrace. Goose will pick open the door to the third floor.

- The first floor staff entrance. One of Goose's contacts was able to get a hold of a working employee keycard. It's an easy way in, but we'll have to make our way up to the third floor while security is searching the building. By us using the card, they'll know someone is on the first floor, so we'll have to find a way past any guards.

3. Once on the third floor, Goose will go to the security room to deactivate the remaining security systems.

We can't go straight for the Opal Gospel, it's protected by a separate security system that has to be deactivated from inside the security room nearby. Again, Goose will take care of this and you'll need to keep a lookout for any guards in case they get suspicious.

Once Goose takes out the security system, you should be able to grab Opal Gospel without any problems.

4. Escape

Once we have the sculpture, it's time to blow the joint. Going back out through the staff entrance on the first floor isn't an option because the cops will probably be outside by then. You and Goose will have to rappel off the Terrace. Just make sure you don't go through the front entrance!

Assuming everything goes off without a hitch, you and Goose will be kickin' it in the Bahamas next month, planning the Glass Museum heist.

Alright, that's the plan, partner. Are you ready to go, or do you need to head back to the hideout?