Wiregrass Museum of Art to Loan EnChroma Glasses to Color Blind Visitors

– WMA is the Third Museum in the State of Alabama to Make its Works ‘Color Accessible’ –

DOTHAN, Ala. & BERKELEY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Wiregrass Museum of Art (WMA) and EnChroma® – creators of glasses for color blindness – today announced that WMA will loan EnChroma glasses to visitors who are red-green color blind so they can more fully experience the colors in its exhibits.

One in 12 men (8%) and one in 200 women (.5%) have Color Vision Deficiency (CVD); an estimated 350 million worldwide; 13 million in the United States; and roughly 217,000 people in Alabama. While people with normal color vision see over one million shades of color, the red-green color blind only see an estimated 10% of hues and shades. As a result, colors can appear dull, indistinct and difficult to discern. For example, red can appear brown; green looks tan, gray or yellow; and purple and blue look similar.

"One of WMA's strategic goals is to make our collection more accessible to the public, and we're one step closer to that with this initiative. We're committed to reducing barriers to access across all of our work at the museum, and are excited to offer members of the public who experience color blindness a more colorful experience," said Dana-Marie Lemmer, executive director at Wiregrass Museum of Art.

“We are delighted that the Wiregrass Museum of Art is supporting accessibility and inclusion for those with color vision deficiencies and joining many other museums that do so worldwide,” said Erik Ritchie, CEO of EnChroma. “The more colorful experience afforded by EnChroma glasses will surely make visits to WMA more meaningful and memorable for color blind guests.”

WMA is the third museum in the state of Alabama to improve accessibility for those with Color Vision Deficiency (CVD). The other participating museums in Alabama are the Birmingham Museum of Art and the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. Recently, three local red-green color blind people became the first to experience the glasses at the museum.

EnChroma is the lead advocate for “color accessibility,” helping universities, state and national parks, libraries, museums, and other organizations purchase and loan EnChroma glasses to color blind students and guests. EnChroma donates a pair of glasses for each pair an organization buys to lend to the public or students.

EnChroma glasses are engineered with special optical filters that help the red-green color blind experience an expanded range of colors more vibrantly, clearly and distinctly to make schoolwork that involves color, art, nature and other experiences more ‘color accessible.’ The program is also open to employers. Through partnerships with vendors, scenic viewers adapted for the color blind with EnChroma lenses are available.

A study by the University of California, Davis, and France’s INSERM Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute, demonstrated the effectiveness of the glasses. The glasses do not cure color blindness and results and reaction times vary. They enhance color for approximately 80% of red-green color blind people who have all three of the color cones in their retina functioning properly.

Media: Product shots, images and interactive GIFs illustrating the challenges for those with Color Vision Deficiencies can be downloaded here. More media materials are available here.

About Wiregrass Museum of Art

MISSION
The Wiregrass Museum of Art inspires a lifelong appreciation for the visual arts by providing innovative educational programs that engage diverse audiences through the collection and exhibition of quality works.

VISION
As a cultural anchor, the Wiregrass Museum of Art inspires creativity to enhance the everyday lives of its community and leads the regional conversation on the importance of the arts.

CORE VALUES
Power of Art / Inspiration / Creativity
We believe in the transformative experience of art and are dedicated to providing our audience with exceptional experiences of direct contact with unique objects and works of art through access to our collections and diverse exhibition schedule. These works of art are at the core of the museum’s identity.

About EnChroma

Based in Berkeley, Calif., EnChroma produces leading-edge eyewear for red-green 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 combines the latest in color perception, neuroscience and lens innovation to improve the lives of people with red-green 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. Call 510-497-0048 or visit enchroma.com for more.