Changing Landscapes: Inside Venice, Mesa Verde, and Rapa Nui

Changing Landscapes: Inside Venice, Mesa Verde, and Rapa Nui is open at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science from June 12, 2026, through January 3, 2027. It's a look inside three UNESCO World Heritage sites that are all facing climate threats: Venice, Rapa Nui, and Mesa Verde, with the latter getting top billing. The exhibition was created by the Museum of Science, Boston, in partnership with UNESCO and made possible by Bloomberg Philanthropies, with additional support from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. It's presented in both English and Spanish.

To get you inside these sites, researchers used photogrammetry to build highly accurate 3D models of each location, which are then projected on a large scale. It's not just something to look at, either. There are hands-on activities throughout—you can trace digital rock art and play a game about protecting storefronts from flooding—that let you see how scientists, local leaders, and communities are tackling flooding, drought, wildfires, erosion, and rising sea levels. The whole thing is framed around the urgency of the climate crisis and the innovative strategies being used to preserve shared human history.

If you're not familiar with the three sites, they couldn't be more different. Venice is the floating city in Italy; Rapa Nui is the remote island of Easter Island in the Pacific; and Mesa Verde is the ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings in Colorado's Four Corners region. Seeing them side by side helps you realize that while the threats—water, fire, and erosion—look different in each place, they're all part of the same larger story. The 3D models bring them close enough to examine, and the activities let you step into the work of the people trying to save them.

It's free with museum admission, which is $27.95 for adults. Since it runs from June through early January, you've got plenty of time to catch it.