Become a Butterfly at Denver Museum of Nature & Science

Through April 7, 2024, family travelers to Colorado’s Denver Museum of Nature & Science can enjoy Wild Color, a 7,000-square-foot temporary exhibition delving into the vibrant colors of nature, displayed throughout the planet’s extraordinary flora and fauna. The exhibit has been arrayed as a series of rooms and spaces, each focusing on a particular hue of the rainbow.

“Our Museum is absolutely thrilled to present Wild Color. This incredible exhibition promises to take you on a journey into the kaleidoscope of life, where nature’s brushstrokes paint a vivid masterpiece and the mystery and meaning of color are revealed,” said Garth Spellman, curator of ornithology, Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

Thanks to a special projection system, museum visitors can (temporarily) transform into a yellow butterfly and experience the entire color spectrum in “color rooms,” ranging from ultraviolet to black and white. Within these rooms, discoveries include gemstones, shells, birds and insects.

There’s also an opportunity to observe animals as they appear to glow under ultraviolet light, and to learn what the colors of gems and minerals reveal about their formation.

The exhibition also features a variety of soundscapes, large-scale media projections and multisensory atmospheres perfect for social media sharing. Created by the Field Museum and designed by Sarah Daley, Wild Color is on view in the museum’s Anschutz Gallery.