Fort Collins Museum of Discovery’s upcoming special exhibit, Skin: Living Armor, Evolving Identity, aims to inspire wonder and curiosity about this uniquely complex organ. The exhibit features dozens of scientific specimens that showcase the incredibly adaptive properties of skin in animals – including its ability to support and regenerate keratin-based structures like armored scales, aerodynamic feathers, and insulating fur.

Skin dives even deeper to explore how evolution has shaped diversity in human skin – and how much we have yet to discover about the underlying genetics of skin color. The exhibit presents the topics of racism, prejudice, and discrimination through the lenses of history and science. Visitors can explore the layers of meaning humans have associated with skin color throughout history and how our ever-evolving social and political climate has influenced shifting ideas of race and culture. FCMoD hopes you’ll take home a deeper understanding of our shared humanity and recognize that we – as humans – are more alike than we are different.

Skin: Living Armor, Evolving Identity was created by the California Academy of Sciences and modified for travel and distributed by the Science Museum of Minnesota.  This installation is presented in English and Spanish.