Step Inside the Rainbow Tunnel

May 26, 2026



Dear Friends,

This month, we’re excited to announce a brand new exhibit at the JMZ! The Rainbow Tunnel, unveiled in April 2026, is an interactive space designed to inspire curiosity through light, sound, and color while creating new opportunities for hands-on learning for visitors of all ages. This new exhibit was fully funded by the Friends, and the design and construction reflects our commitment to creating accessible, engaging science experiences for the entire community.

We are also thrilled to introduce the Friends’ new Sponsor an Animal program, which offers the opportunity to celebrate your favorite furry, feathered, or scaly JMZ resident. Sponsorships will support the JMZ’s Animal Care Fund and help ensure exceptional care for more than 50 animal species at the JMZ through nutritious diets, habitat maintenance, veterinary support, enrichment and other specialized care that animals need to thrive. To recognize your commitment, you’ll receive exclusive benefits including JMZ stickers, a magnet, and a personalized birthday card. We invite you to learn more about the animals and their unique needs and become a sponsor today.

Summer is just around the corner, and I hope you'll come visit and see what's new at the JMZ!

Warmly,

Lauren Angelo 

President, Friends of the Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo

Watch a video of Board Member Brittany Brown-Chavez introducing the Rainbow Tunnel.

If you’ve visited the JMZ recently, you may have come across the Rainbow Tunnel, a colorful new exhibit designed to spark curiosity and invite visitors to engage with the science of color, light, and sound. Inside the tunnel, mirrored panels reflect the visible spectrum of the rainbow while demonstrating scientific concepts like reflection and refraction. Its unique design — narrow at the entrance and gradually widening toward the exit — encourages visitors to experience sound, perspective, and spatial perception in new and wonderful ways.

Your colorful view as you enter the Rainbow Tunnel.

JMZ Exhibits Director Brian Weinstein explains, “The initial concept for the Rainbow Tunnel was to design and construct an exhibit within the existing tunnel to immerse visitors in the full spectrum of visible colors. As visitors move through the space, the colors mix visually, creating a vivid kaleidoscopic effect of swirling, blending hues. The tunnel amplifies sound, while colored mirrors scatter reflections in multiple directions. In this environment, sound, color, and light interact to create a complex, immersive experience.”

Signage that explains the scientific concepts behind the Rainbow Tunnel.

Visitors have already begun interacting with the space by experimenting with echoes, observing shifting reflections, and exploring how light and color change from different viewpoints. JMZ Educator Kat Cook shares, “I have noticed the space is transformed in many ways. People don’t simply pass through to get elsewhere. The vibrant colors and reflections really make visitors of all ages stop and look. A reminder to slow down and notice the colors around us.”

Children are excited to explore and interact with the new exhibit.

The Rainbow Tunnel also serves as a dynamic teaching tool for JMZ educators. Kat notes, “I like to think that the Rainbow Tunnel is a touchpoint to get kids curious by altering light, color, and sound. Making room for wonder and playfulness is sometimes overlooked as a tool for learning, so creating a place to just explore, especially with physical phenomena that we may take for granted, is valuable.” By transforming an existing passageway into an engaging learning environment, the Rainbow Tunnel demonstrates how science can be woven into everyday experiences in creative and accessible ways.

The design and construction of the Rainbow Tunnel were made possible through the generosity of Friends supporters, advancing our mission of making hands-on science education accessible to all. As an admission-free exhibit, the entire community is invited to come experience the Rainbow Tunnel and learn about the science behind it.

We invite you to visit the Rainbow Tunnel on your next trip to the JMZ!