Six people gathered in a mostly white room at the Ackland Art Museum. Standing side by side, it was hard to see what set them all apart: their colorblindness.
The museum is the first of its kind in North Carolina to offer free color-correcting glasses to its colorblind guests. To highlight the service and partnership with eyewear brand EnChroma, the UNC facility hosted an event where the six Triangle residents could try out the glasses — and take them home.
From left to right: Logan Moore, Sherrill Roland, Eric Elbogen, Scott Robert, Delia Hudson and Ryan Hudson introduce themselves at the start of the Ackland Art Museum’s event celebrating its partnership with EnChroma.
After introducing themselves to each other and the assembled crowd, each was given a pair of EnChroma glasses and walked into a colorful gallery. Then the group put their glasses on simultaneously. Some noticed the change immediately – others needed a few minutes for their eyes to adjust. But soon the six people began discussing what new colors they saw in the artwork and around them.
The group of participants at the launch of Ackland’s EnChroma partnership put on their glasses for the first time.
The group examines one of the first pieces at the entrance to the exhibition “Arrange” at the Ackland Art Museum.
The event provided an opportunity for Sherrill Roland, a Durham-based artist whose own work is on display at the museum, to see his own work and that of other artists in his field from a new perspective. Roland, who discovered he was colorblind as a teenager, avoids painting in his works and often limits himself to just a few shades at a time. When he went to a gallery with the glasses on to look at his mural, he said, he was slowly trying to understand how the colors relate to each other in different ways.
“Seeing them for the first time with these glasses is definitely very interesting,” Rolland said. “I have to go back and look at some of these color swatches that I used to describe what (shades) I wanted, because now they’re a little bit different. So now I can start redefining things that I thought I knew.”
The partnership with EnChroma has been in the works for some time, according to Lilly Rodriguez, the museum’s learning resources coordinator. She said in the future, visitors will be able to reserve glasses online before visiting the museum or request glasses at the front desk when they arrive.
“A big part of what we do here at Ackland is looking closely,” Rodriguez said. “We think a lot about the different ways people engage with artwork and what potential barriers there might be. So this is just one way to give more visitors here at Ackland the opportunity to experience art in full color.”
Delia Hudson was the only woman in the group gathered on Wednesday who was colorblind – as the visual impairment is much less common in women than in men. Her son Ryan is also colorblind and received his own glasses. The duo walked through the gallery together and pointed out various details.
The CHCCS speech therapist described that it took a little longer for her vision to adjust when she first put the glasses on, but it was accompanied by a wave of emotions.
“Honestly, it felt like I was on a roller coaster or something,” Hudson said. “It just kept feeling like I could see a little bit more every few seconds. I got goosebumps and was really excited and just wanted to grab Ryan and ask, ‘What do you see?'”
Delia Hudson talks to her son Ryan and Eric Elbogen about her experiences with color correction glasses.
Logan Moore describes his experience viewing a central piece in Ackland’s exhibition “Arranged.”
It wasn’t Ryan’s first time trying color-correcting glasses — but the first pair he got wasn’t that effective. Hudson said the experience left him unsure whether Wednesday’s event would be as special as it turned out to be.
“When I walked in here, I was a little bit worried about whether it would work and just to see how different it really is,” said the high school 10th grader. “But I was kind of shocked when I saw how different it actually is and how beautiful the world really looks.”
His mother added tearfully: “Just knowing that he can see the world the way everyone else does is incredibly exciting.”
For people without colorblindness, it may look like the glasses are turning everything pink – but for people who have difficulty perceiving that hue, it can make a big difference. Scott Robert, a Raleigh doctor who is red-green colorblind, said he liked a smaller, square piece with bright greens, pinks and yellows in the exhibit that he explored.
“I’m surprised the difference in the green isn’t that dramatic,” Robert said. “But it’s this pink that looks like a light brown at the bottom… (Well) it couldn’t be pinker.”
“I think what struck me,” he added of dramatic differences, “is how often the same color comes up when it’s monochromatic and forms a big swath of color – either the walls or one of the paintings. When it’s a smaller detail, it’s a little harder to bring it out.”
For Rolland, the glasses aren’t the only new thing he’s experienced this week: He’s also a first-time art history professor at UNC. As he headed out to prepare for a lecture, the artist said he also wanted to wear the glasses to support his teaching and discuss artworks with his students.
“I told them I’m coming here today to have this experience,” Rolland said, laughing. “I have a lecture planned, so every time a new image comes up I’ll probably ‘pause for the cause’ (so I can examine it and say, ‘Oh, I haven’t seen that before’) and experiences like that.”
For more details about the Ackland Art Museum’s accessibility efforts, visit the museum’s website.
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