When we were on our anniversary road trip we decided to make a little detour and head to NYC! And I am so glad we did! We spent the entire day immersed in color – the best way to spend our 1st anniversary!
When we were on our honeymoon in California we tried to go to the first Color Factory exhibit in San Francisco, but it was sold out before we had a chance to purchase tickets! So, as soon as I saw the news that Color Factory was coming to New York City I knew we had to go! I mean NYC is about 10 hours away from Cincinnati… but it’s still closer than San Francisco! lol
“Color Factory is a collaborative interactive exhibit that debuted in San Francisco in August 2017. What was intended as a month-long run unexpectedly flourished as a celebration of color and creativity that lasted for another eight sold-out months.
In August 2018, a whole new palette came to New York City in SoHo’s Hudson Square neighborhood. In 20,000 square feet, we feature brand-new participatory installations of colors we’ve collected around the city— hues that invite curiosity, discovery and play. Some of our favorite artists, creatives, designers and makers are teaming up with us to tell their unique color stories and engage all of your senses in unexpected ways.
We hope that the palette and projects offered within Color Factory will connect you to the colorful moments around New York and in your own daily life.”
This exhibit is the (partial) brain child of the owner of one of my absolute favorite blogs/party supply companies, Oh Happy Day! That is how I found out about it in the first place! Her (Jordan Ferney), Erin Lang (a NYC graphic designer) and Leah Rosenberg (a San Fran artist) co-created this colorful wonderland. Their collaboration with dozens of amazing artists, partners and sponsors (like Gymboree and Maybelline) really helped showcase all that New York City has to offer, and how colorful it really is!
Unfortunately, I will not be able to show you everything in this exhibit due to the fact that we were having so much fun that I forgot to take pictures of some parts of the tour! It makes me want to slap myself for not taking them, but at the same time give myself a high-five for actually being present and enjoying everything they had to offer!
A cool thing that Color Factory actually did was have a camera installed in many of the rooms so that all guests could get a good picture of their group, or give the option for guests to attend the exhibit completely hands-free! Making sure that the guests were able to fully enjoy everything without having to miss out on a few pictures they can keep for memories! At the beginning of the exhibit we loaded a card with our email information so that when we would scan the cards in at each station the pictures would automatically be emailed to us! How cool is that?!
Another really neat thing that Color Factory implemented into the exhibits were food from around the city! We got to try A LOT of snacks throughout the tour which I totally did not expect! We got to try some macarons from a nearby bakery, baby blue gelato that is naturally dyed from dried butterfly pea flowers and the most amazing fizzy drink made out of only water and raspberries! And that is just to name a few of the sweets we got to try!
Well, I won’t make you wait any longer! Here is a little walk through of some of the awesome exhibits you will encounter if you visit Color Factory!
100 Colors
When you first walk into the building you see a ceiling full of color! What better way to enter an exhibit than to see this beautiful paper installation by artist and architect, Emmanuelle Moureaux?!
Pick a Color, Any Flavor
How can you make this rainbow striped room even sweeter? You add a conveyor belt with tasty macarons for guests to enjoy!! Why isn’t this in every kitchen everywhere?!
Flower People
This adorable garden was made possible thanks to a nonprofit art studio that features artists with developmental disabilities, called LAND Studio & Gallery. One of their members named, James Rosa illustrated this beautiful design!
Wall of Buttons
This exhibit is exactly what it sounds like; a wall of buttons! But it is the most beautiful wall of buttons I have ever seen! (not that I have ever seen a wall full of buttons before) When you step into this room you are asked to pick out your very favorite colored button (to keep) but make sure you keep it handy, because you will need that same button later on!
Complimentary Compliments
This was one of my favorite installations of all! For this room you were asked to separate from your partner and enter into two different doors. When you walk through the doors you realize that you need to sit across the “desk” from your partner. You get to pick where you sit, so we chose Ian’s favorite complimentary colors (colors opposite on the color wheel); blue and orange!
At the desk you are told to put on your headphones and listen to the instructions and were given a card to complete as prompted. Our first task was to look at our partner and color in the blank squares they have provided with colors based on our partners outfit, skin, eyes and lips. This made up an custom color pallet for each individual.
After completing our color pallet we were asked to draw a blind contour line drawing of our partner. A blind contour drawing is an exercise where you draw an entire (outline) picture without looking down at the paper. So what they asked us to do was look at our partner in front of us and sketch out the shape of their face, hair, eyes and everything we could without looking at our sheet! These portraits turned out to be hilarious!!
At the very end we got to choose a cute little note from a stack they provided to give to our partner to express how we felt about them or thought best spoke to them. The cards were on theme with the color of the desk we sat at (which I loved). The card Ian chose for me said, “You’re the zest to my orange!” haha
Sing Me High, Sing Me Low, Bring Me Back, Let Me Go
This interactive room was so much fun! Artist and musician sisters, Abimaro and Lakwena, designed this space with the notion that they would like to excite more than one sense in their audience while inside this room. We got to walk around the room and bang (not too hard) on the colorful wood blocks. Even when everyone was hitting them all out of rhythm it still sounded beautiful!
Balloon Wishes
“When you wish upon a balloon, you find yourself in this ombre room!” This installation was filled with lot’s of colorful balloons printed with the wishes of children who attend a local elementary school in the area. To make things even better, there is an air vent to blow them all around the room!
Ian said “grab your favorite balloon and let’s take a picture with them!” So we both grabbed our favorite and ran over to the camera. It wasn’t until this photo was sent to my email that I saw we picked up the exact same balloon! A man after my own heart. ❤
This Floor is Made For Dancing, And That’s Just What You’ll Do
Who wouldn’t want to bust a move in this exhibit?! The bright changing colors on the dance floor and the sequins on the wall made for the perfect dance party!
From Absinthe to Zephyr
Remember how I said that your button would come in handy later on? This installation is an A-Z display of 26 unique colors, one of which will match your button! You get to pull out your matching color and read all about where it got it’s name! My color was Absinthe and Ian’s was Dutch Orange.
Into The Blue
What better way to end an amazing art exhibit than to jump into a huge ball pit?! It definitely brought back lots of nostalgia from Chuck E. Cheese, but so much bigger and better! We had such a fun time playing around in the pit, but I will admit I wish I hadn’t wore a dress! That made it so much more difficult to jump around in there! haha
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We had the time of our lives at Color Factory and both agree it was one of the best things about our anniversary trip! Now onto the next experiential exhibit!
Photography By Auburn Artisan + Color Factory
Auburn Artisan 