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SOLD OUT: Presented by The Holland Foundation, The Sensory Yard invited visitors into an immersive world where curiosity, movement, rest, and imagination unfolded at their own pace. Blending sensory architecture, participatory art, and immersive storytelling, this interactive installation encouraged exploration without expectation. Every path was self-directed and every experience optional, creating an environment where wonder and nervous system regulation existed side by side.
Visitors journeyed through a series of thoughtfully designed sensory spaces, each offering a unique invitation to engage. They could find grounding in The Commons, move freely in The Motion Room, wander through the responsive beauty of The Light Forest, retreat into the quiet comfort of The Cocoon, dive into imaginative worlds in the Submarine, and leave their mark in The Workshop Room, where the environment evolved through collective creativity.
Rather than asking visitors to perform or observe, The Sensory Yard offered permission—to pause, play, create, connect, or simply be. Designed with accessibility, emotional safety, and sensory inclusion at its core, the installation celebrated the many ways people experience the world and invited every visitor to discover what they needed in the moment.
No tickets were needed – this experience was free to the community during open hours.
Sunday, September 13, 2026 through Sunday, September 27, 2026
Julia Noulin-Mérat is an internationally recognized designer, producer, and arts leader whose work spans more than 430 opera, theater, television, and immersive productions. Her practice focuses on creating imaginative environments that invite audiences to explore, interact, and experience stories in unexpected ways.
Her projects include Neverland (China Broadway), a $20 million, 50,000-square-foot immersive theatrical experience in Beijing inspired by Peter Pan and directed by Allegra Libonati; Playground for Opera Omaha, an interactive sound sculpture presented at the Joslyn Art Museum in collaboration with composer Ellen Reid; and a TEDx talk exploring site-specific performance and how environments can transform the audience experience.
Noulin-Mérat has helped develop 28 new operas and 22 new plays, and her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Opera News, and LiveDesign. She currently serves as General Director + CEO of Opera Columbus.
Roger Ideishi (he/him/Japanese American) is a Professor of Health, Human Function, and Rehabilitation Sciences at The George Washington University. He is co-founder of Philadelphia Chinatown Disability Advocacy Project supporting disabled immigrants navigate culturally and linguistically inaccessible health, education, and social systems. He served on two presidential disability policy campaign committees and advised 130 national and international cultural institutions. He received the 2017 Philadelphia Art-Reach Cultural Access Impact Award, the 2019 Kennedy Center Excellence in Accessibility Leadership Award, and was recognized in 2022 by the Kennedy Center as a Next 50 honoree for significant impacts on society through the arts.
Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew is an award-winning designer for theater, dance, opera, musicals, music performances, and large-scale immersive installations. As a designer, Jeanette aims to create a visual environment that is organically integrated into the production's landscape and its language. Her designs have been seen nationally and internationally in Havana (Cuba), Prague (Czech Republic), Lima (Peru), Edinburgh (Scotland), Tokyo (Japan), Graz (Austria), Shanghai (China), and Bloemfontein (South Africa). The New York Times described her designs as “clever” and “inventive.” Her dance work has also been praised for its “vibrant richness of a Caravaggio painted in neon.” In addition to Rhythm Bath with Susan Marshall, Jeanette has collaborated with Tendayi Kuumba, Annie-B Parson, and Donna Uchizono on The March, Wicked Bodies with Liz Lerman, and Chasing Magic with Ayodele Casel. She was the lighting designer for Company XIV between 2014 and 2019. Immersive experiences include David Byrne’s Theater of the Mind (Goodman & DCPA) and Emursive’s Life and Trust. Jeanette is a 2026 USA Fellow and has received an Obie for sustained achievement in design, the Henry Hewes Lighting Design Award, and recipient for the NEA/TCG Career Development Program. Arts Professor and Head of Lighting Design Training at NYU Tisch Drama.
@jeanette_yew
Headshot credit: Hunter Canning
The Holland Foundation
The OFFICE
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