The Nature of Color

Three models of columbine flowers, one blue, one red, and one white, against a solid black background

Exhibition Information

Venue gallery size:

7,000 – 8,000 ft²
(650 – 850 m²)

Venue ceiling height:

12 ft recommended
(3.6 m)

Conservation & Security requirements:

Moderate

Standard Rental Length:

16 weeks

Our world is awash with color. Explore the world of color in this immersive traveling exhibition.

The Nature of Color reveals the many roles of color in the natural world, across human cultures, and in our personal lives.

Explore the science of color, how colors make us feel, the history of color production, and how plants and animals use color to help them survive and reproduce.

Key Questions

What is color?
How do plants and animals use color?
How do colors trigger emotions and ideas?
How is color produced?

Highlights

This fun, family-friendly exhibition includes models, cultural objects, and interactive exhibits that invite visitors to play and experiment with color.

A man, woman, and child stand with arms outstretched in a room with geometric patterned wallpaper that appears colorless.

Explore the physics of color in an immersive entrance that alternates between two kinds of lighting: one with color, and one without.
© AMNH/R. Mickens

A woman and two children stand in front of a white wall, their shadows are shown in several different colors

The white walls of this shadow theater appear colorless, but the light shining on them is a mixture of red, blue, and green light. When some of these colors are blocked, the remaining colors are revealed, filling in shadows with color.
© AMNH/D. Finnin

A man, woman, and girl in a green room look at a display featuring models including a mouse, bumblebee, flowers, moth, hummingbird and others

Larger-than-life models reveal why some organisms come in eye-catching colors while others blend into the background.
© AMNH/R. Mickens

Two children touch the screens of digital kiosks facing a large presentation monitor that asks "Which color expresses how you feel right now?"

Explore how colors can influence how you feel while playing a video interactive on kiosks or from mobile devices.
© AMNH/D. Finnin

In the center of a blue room a family surrounds several circular digital stations that demonstrate the process of dyeing indigo fabric

Learn how people have searched for pigments to make their lives more colorful and try your hand at virtually dyeing indigo fabric at interactive stations.
© AMNH/R. Mickens

Wide shot of a room featuring displays including a red football uniform, a pink suit, a red sari, and a red chiffon and organza gown in the center

Find out how colors can create shared identity and see some of the many uses of red throughout human history, from cave art to college sports.
© AMNH/D. Finnin

A woman, child and man with arms outstretched are seen from behind facing a wall displaying a projection of colorful paint dripping from ceiling

Several mirrors protruding from a wall are positioned to face different direction, shining and reflecting beams of light in different colors

Arrange mirrors and play with filters to create light art by splitting light beams into different colors and directions.
© AMNH/D. Finnin

Installation of portraits on backgrounds tinted with a color from the Pantone palette matched to a sample taken from the nose of each subject

The exhibition features an installation of portraits by Brazilian photographer Angélica Dass, whose work showcases the diversity of human skin tones to challenge socially constructed racial categories and celebrate the beauty of humans from around the world.
© AMNH/D. Finnin

Request More Information

The Nature of Color is organized by the American Museum of Natural History, New York (amnh.org).

The Nature of Color

Key Questions

Highlights

Request More Information

Browse More