Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture Unveils EnChroma Glasses for Color Blind Visitors

– MAC is First Museum in Spokane to Make Works ‘Color Accessible;’ Seven Local Color Blind People to Experience Special Glasses at Launch Event –

Spokane, WA & Berkeley, CA – September 28, 2023 – The Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture (MAC) and EnChroma® – creators of glasses for color blindness – today announced that the MAC will become the first museum in Spokane to permanently loan EnChroma glasses to enable color blind visitors to more fully experience colors in its exhibits. Guests who are red-green color blind can borrow the glasses to tour the museum and view its artwork in clear, vibrant color.

One in 12 men (8%) and one in 200 women (.5%) are Color Vision Deficient (CVD); an estimated 350 million worldwide, 13 million in the United States, over 330,000 in Washington, and nearly 10,000 in the Spokane. While people with normal color vision see over one million shades of color, the color blind only see an estimated 10% of hues and shades (see images below). As a result, colors can appear dull, indistinct and difficult to discern.

Click here to see more images of the MAC’s artwork as its appears to the color blind.

“We’re excited to be able to offer this new service to color blind visitors to the MAC to enhance their museum-going experience and enjoyment of art and culture exhibitions,” said MAC Executive Director, Wes Jessup.

“Artists use color to tell a story and to evoke emotion, but much of this intent and information is unavailable to millions of people who are color blind,” said Erik Ritchie, CEO of EnChroma. “We are delighted that the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture is supporting the needs of red-green color blind visitors and enabling a better understanding and appreciation of art for them. We hope that schools, universities, employers, libraries and other museums in Spokane will follow the MAC’s lead and improve ‘color accessibility’ at their organizations too.”

On Thursday, September 28 at 10:00 a.m., seven local color blind people will be the first to experience the glasses at the MAC at a special event (see backstories below).

1. Denise Pounds, age 41 is a family medicine doctor and a rare color blind woman, whose two young sons are also color blind.

How Color blindness Affects Her

“Color blindness can impact the clinical assessment of patients sometimes, like seeing jaundice of the skin or eyes, or identifying rashes, bruises, etc. Dressing can be a challenge. I tend to wear distinct solids to avoid mismatching with patterns. I have many color "disagreements" with family and friends, mostly related to blue vs purple and gray vs green.”

What she hopes to Experience with EnChroma Glasses

“I want to experience colors in nature; see shades of green while hiking and variances of blue in the ocean. Even watching my kids’ sports events and having better contrast of color on the field or court would be great.”

2. Tony Caprile, age 67 is a carpenter and landlord with two color blind sisters (rare).