Tanya Orellana designs performance spaces for theatre, dance, and opera. Originally from San Francisco, she has been a core member of the award winning ensemble Campo Santo since 2008, participating in their intimate new work process, conceptualizing and designing sets alongside the writing process. 

Her design collaborations includes the world premiere of The Heath, by Lauren Gunderson directed by Sean Daniels at Merrimack Repertory Theatre (Lowell, MA), the Mexican premiere of Angels in America directed by Martín Acosta at Teatro Juan Ruiz de Alarcón (Mexico City), The Industry’s Sweet Land, a world premiere opera, directed by Yuval Sharon and Cannupa Hanska Luger at L.A. State Historic Park, Native Gardens by Karen Zacarias directed by Rebecca Rivas at TheatreSquared (Arkansas), SAPO by Culture Clash at The Getty Villa (Los Angeles, CA), Casa de Spirits written and directed by Roger Guenveur Smith at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Forum (San Francisco, CA) and Dry Powder directed by Jennifer King at Aurora Theatre (Berkeley, CA).

Exploring the intersection of design and civic practice, Tanya led workshops on theatrical design for incarcerated persons at Perryville State Prison, creating a collaborative site specific installation for Their Dogs Came With Them adapted and directed by Virginia Grise.

Tanya received her MFA in Scenic Design from CalArts (2017) and is the 2016 recipient of the Princess Grace Fabergé Theatre Award.  Her design work on Angels in America was presented in the US Emerging Designers Exhibit at the Prague Quadrennial 2019

Upcoming Work

Rasgos Asiaticos, in collaboration with Virginia Grise, in Chinatown, Los Angeles. A scenic installation using sound, light, and objects to conjure narratives of immigration and migration in the U.S.–Mexico borderlands. 

American Mariachi by José Cruz González, at TheaterSquared, Arkansas, directed by Rebecca Rivas.

Last Days at Pu’unene Mill, a new exhibition/installation and community engagement project created in collaboration with video artist Joan Osato, Richard Montoya and Sean San José.