Philadelphia’s Weitzman Jewish Museum has a new immersive family experience: ‘Colors of Creation’

It’s an interactive, color-soaked journey through creation that transforms at the whims of visitors.

“Colors of Creation,” the centerpiece exhibit of a large new family gallery at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, opened July 21. The panoramic experience inspired by the story of creation combines concert-style lighting, interactive projections, and original music to present a form-shifting world of sound, light, and imagery.

“‘Colors of Creation’ is The Weitzman like you’ve never seen us before,” said Dan Tadmor, President and CEO of The Weitzman. “We started with a story that we all know to create this visually stunning — and most importantly, fun — space for families and visitors of all ages. It’s also a glimpse of where The Weitzman is headed: a museum where stories come alive.”

Designed to be inclusive of all faith traditions and scientific understandings of creation, “Colors of Creation” invites children on a multisensory journey through the origins of the world, Tadmor said.

Stepping inside the 30-minute explosion of color feels like entering the elusive Hall of Mirrors of an amusement park. Then color and sound blossoms all around, with light transforming into new images of life at a visitor’s every move.

“It’s an immersive space,” said Tadmor, on a recent afternoon, standing amid the changing colors and shifting images of an expanding universe. “And as more things are introduced into the world, more colors are introduced.”

The 7,000-square-foot gallery — including a hands-on play space for children featuring peg walls, magnetic puzzles, and light tables — is the second of three major openings at the Weitzman in 2006. “First Salute” — the museum’s landmark 250th exhibit exploring a forgotten story about Jews who helped win the Revolutionary War — opened in April.

In October, the museum plans to open a new exhibition dedicated to modern antisemitism. The renewal of the 100,000-square-foot museum, which opened its new building on Independence Mall in 2010, comes as it recently unveiled a $100 million fundraising campaign. With half the money already raised, those funds will go to revamping exhibitions, renovations, and an endowment.

As visitors move through “Colors of Creation,” more colors explode onto one the exhibition’s screens, an expanding universe of life followed by a vast sky of shooting stars and far away galaxies.

”It’s a chance to be mindful of the beauty and value of what we’ve been given,” said Tadmor, worlds of color forming all around. “We’ve got this gift — let’s appreciate it and take care of it.”