Accessibility

Edward Hicks, The Peaceable Kingdom, 1822-1825. Given at the behest of Anonymous Museum Benefactors, National Museum of Wildlife Art. Color Blind Conversion Courtesy of EnChroma

EnChroma improves experience for guests at NMWA

The National Museum of Wildlife Art has partnered with EnChroma – creators of eyewear for color blindness, to help color blind guests experience a fuller range of colors in artwork. EnChroma’s patented lens technology is engineered with special optical filters that help people with color blindness see an expanded range of colors more vibrantly, clearly and distinctly. The Museum is the first organization in the state of Wyoming to offer accessibility to the color blind through the EnChroma Color Accessibility Program.

One in 12 men (8%) and one in 200 women (.5%) are color vision deficient; an estimated 13 million in the United States and 350 million worldwide. While people with normal color vision see over one million shades of color, those with color vision deficiency are estimated to see only about 10% of hues and shades. With a population of 10,553 in Jackson Hole, that means about 448 are color blind. Roughly 2.6 million tourists visit Jackson Hole annually with over 110,00 color blind.

“We’re grateful to be able to offer this program to our visitors to enhance their museum experience and see art from a different angle,” says Steve Seamons, Museum Director. “Looking at the difference of Caravan (Owl) by Peter Gerakaris with the glasses and without, really puts things in perspective.”

“EnChroma is excited that the National Museum of Wildlife Art is giving color blind guests the opportunity to experience its unique colorful works of art with EnChroma glasses,” said Erik Ritchie, CEO of EnChroma. “Tourists from all over the world, who flock to experience the natural beauty of Jackson Hole, will now be able to more fully appreciate colors in the museum’s exhibits as well.”

©Peter Gerakaris, Caravan (Owl), 2012. Purchased with funds generously donated by Adrienne and John Mars, National Museum of Wildlife Art. Color Blind Conversion Courtesy of EnChroma

About EnChroma

Based in Berkeley, Calif., EnChroma produces leading-edge eyewear for color blindness and low vision, and other solutions for color vision, sold online and through Authorized Retailers worldwide. Invented in 2010, EnChroma’s patented eyewear for color blindness combines the latest in color perception neuroscience and lens innovation to improve the lives of people with color vision deficiency around the world. EnChroma received an SBIR grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It earned the 2016 Tibbetts Award from the U.S. Small Business Administration in recognition of the firm’s innovative impact on the human experience through technology, and the 2020 Innovation Award in Life Sciences from the Bay Area’s East Bay Economic Development Alliance. enchroma.com

Jean-Leon Gerome, Tiger Observing Cranes, c. 1890. National Museum of Wildlife Art Collection. Color Blind Conversion Courtesy of EnChroma