Into the Blue
The Pursuit of Color
Upper Level
Included with Museum Admission
Opens Mar. 29, 2025
Open today 10 am – 8 pm
The Pursuit of Color
Upper Level
Included with Museum Admission
Each year, the Penn Museum’s student exhibition program selects a cohort of undergraduate interns to collaborate with staff, expand their research with faculty, and create an accessible experience for visitors—all while strengthening the students’ skill sets for future careers. This year’s exhibition examines the color blue — a rare and highly prized color that holds significant meaning for cultures throughout history.
Blue surrounds us. But unlike red and yellow materials that are abundant in the earth, blue dyes and pigments are difficult to source from nature.
Delving into case studies from around the world, this exhibit showcases the incredible effort humans have put into obtaining blue materials, ingenious ways they’ve created blue dyes and pigments, and ongoing efforts to intensify blue hues and expand their use.
What is it about blue that makes us go to such great lengths? From delicate kingfisher feathers worked into Chinese hair ornaments, an ancient Egyptian funerary figurine painted with blue hair to symbolize its connection to the heavens, and brilliant African textiles dyed with indigo—explore the deep human history associated with this popular hue.
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Talia Desai is a senior studying art history and pursuing a minor in legal studies. She has a deep interest in the art world and appreciates the opportunity to gain hands-on experience curating an exhibit. Her favorite part of the show focuses on Chinese kingfisher hairpins, which were so highly sought-after artisans developed an enamel technique to mimic their appearance.
Nadia McGrath is a senior majoring in visual studies and communication. Having grown up painting, she has always been fascinated by color and has used it to drive her creative and academic pursuits. She’s intrigued by how we perceive color, how it evokes emotion, and how it carries different meanings across cultures and history. This exhibition offered a chance to dive deeper into those questions.
Iris Peron is a junior double-majoring in ancient history and cinema studies. She hopes that the exhibit helps people consider invisible narratives all around us—that they can apply an understanding of the complexity around the single color featured here to other shades as well. She also hopes to create the sense of wonder and fun that she experienced while visiting the Penn Museum as a kid.
April Zhang is a junior studying design, with minors in archaeology and consumer psychology. Her interest in spatial design has guided her work developing the look and feel and case layouts for this exhibit. She hopes the exhibit leads visitors to think about color in a new way.
