National Health Sciences Consortium
Traveling exhibit
Opened March 1999
Women's Health itinerary

The Changing Face of Women's Health, is a traveling exhibition developed and designed for a consortium of nine of the nation's foremost science museums. An explosion of knowledge about women's bodies and minds is changing the way health in general is defined – as a blending of biology, society and the choices each person makes. This landmark exhibit makes a dramatic statement about how the burgeoning field of women's health has had a profound an impact on the lives of women and men, interweaving the fascination of cutting edge science with the emotional appeal of real women's stories.

The exhibit presents a sampler of health issues across the life span, organized around four central themes – risk, detection, prevention and control. In each thematic area, compelling personal stories provide jumping off points for hands-on exploration, computer-based activities and interaction with art in a range of media. Many components offer visitors the opportunity to 'talk back' to the exhibit, expressing their thoughts, answering personal surveys and casting votes on subjects as far flung as women's disproportionate fear of breast cancer when heart disease is the #1 killer of women and how feelings about food and body image can affect health and well being.

<click on images to see them larger>

After six months at the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore, "The Changing Face of Women's Health" will travel to Sci Trek in Atlanta, the New York Hall of Science, the Exploratorium in San Francisco, the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington, D.C., the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, the Boston Museum of Science, the Oregon Museum of Science & Industry, the Museum of Science & Industry, Chicago, and the California Science Center in Los Angeles.