Press release

EnChroma Glasses Enhance O’Keeffe Museum Experience for Color Blind Visitors

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Sponsored by Businesswire

The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum and EnChroma®
are partners on an innovative collaboration to expand the gallery
experience for visitors with color vision deficiencies, more commonly
known as “color blindness.” Utilizing a unique spectral lens technology
invented by the Berkeley-based company, EnChroma color blind glasses are
designed to help the estimated 300 million people in the world with
red-green color blindness see colors more vibrantly and clearly.
Beginning May 3, visitors with color vision deficiencies can borrow
EnChroma glasses from the Museum’s visitor services team to see Georgia
O’Keeffe’s creations in the vibrant colors and hues for which her work
is famous.

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Courtesy of the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. Color blind view by EnChroma.

Courtesy of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. Color blind view by EnChroma.

“Think of a classic O’Keeffe painting, and bold colors come to mind. But
for people with color vision deficiency the hues are limited,” says
Katrina Stacy, Curator of Education and Interpretation at the O’Keeffe.
“We are thrilled at this opportunity to offer some of our visitors an
enhanced, more colorful visual experience. With the EnChroma glasses, we
can share O’Keeffe’s hope to convey ‘the wideness and wonder of the
world’ with everyone.”

In Georgia O’Keeffe’s later years, the artist developed visual
impairment from macular degeneration. Unable to paint, she turned her
creative attentions to sculpture. Says Stacy, “This project has a strong
tie to that part of her story.” Personal connections also drive EnChroma.

“O’Keeffe took simple colors from nature and juxtaposed them in ways
that evoked emotion,” says Andrew Schmeder, CEO and Co-founder of
EnChroma. “The relationships between colors in her art is precisely what
is challenging for people with color blindness to see and appreciate.
The mission of EnChroma is to help people with color blindness unlock an
enriched visual experience. This is why we are so excited about
collaborating with the Museum to make O’Keeffe’s iconic works more
accessible to those with color vision deficiency.”

To kick off this special collaboration, EnChroma will staff a table at
the Museum’s May First Friday, 5-7 p.m., May 3, 2019. During the event,
attendees can learn about color blindness and the science behind
EnChroma glasses, and borrow them to tour the museum. Color vision
deficiency is an inherited condition that impacts more than one in 12
men (8%) and one in 200 women worldwide.

More information about color vision deficiency and EnChroma glasses for
color blindness can be found at enchroma.com.

Supplemental images available upon request.

ABOUT ENCHROMA

EnChroma, Inc. develops lens technologies and high-performance eyewear
for color blindness. Co-founded by a Ph.D. glass scientist and UC
Berkeley educated mathematician, EnChroma invented revolutionary glasses
for color blindness that combine the latest in color perception
neuroscience and lens innovation to enable access to color for all.
Established in Berkeley California, in 2010, EnChroma received a SBIR
grant from the National Institute of Health (NIH) and 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. EnChroma also received the 2017 Beacons of the
Photonics Industry Award from Photonics Media. For more information
please call 510-497-0048 or visit EnChroma.com.

ABOUT THE GEORGIA O’KEEFFE MUSEUM

To inspire all current and future generations, the Georgia O’Keeffe
Museum preserves, presents and advances the artistic legacy of Georgia
O’Keeffe and modernism through innovative public engagement, education,
and research. Opened in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1997, the Museum counts
O’Keeffe’s two New Mexico homes as part of its extended collection. The
Museum’s collections, exhibitions, research center, publications and
educational programs contribute to scholarly discourse and serve a
diverse audience. The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum presents an ongoing series
of thematic galleries exploring the career of the artist through her
artwork, art materials, archives, and the landscapes and experiences
that defined her life, on view throughout 2019. For more information,
please visit okeeffemuseum.org.