Tanya Orellana (she/her) designs performance spaces for theatre, opera, and immersive installations. Her work has been seen in venues across the USA including The Huntington, The Guthrie, Pasadena Playhouse, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, The Kennedy Center, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Huntington Gardens, The Geffen Playhouse, The Getty Villa, and Berkeley Rep. She is based in New York City and is originally from San Francisco.
Design collaborations include Big Data directed by Pam MacKinnon (A.C.T.), Mother Road directed by David Mendizábal (Berkeley REP), What Became of Us directed by Jennifer Chang (Atlantic Stage 2), For The People by Larissa FastHorse and Ty Defoe directed by Michael John Garcés (Guthrie Theatre), Oedipus directed by Jenny Koons (The Getty Villa), Lear directed by Eric Ting (CalShakes), The Travelers by Luis Alfaro directed by Catherine Castellanos (Magic Theatre), Sweet Land a world premiere opera directed by Yuval Sharon and Cannupa Hanska Luger at L.A. State Historic Park, the Mexico premiere of Angels in America directed by Martín Acosta at Teatro Juan Ruiz de Alarcón (Mexico City), and Rasgos Asiáticos written by Virginia Grise, a scenic installation using sound, light, and objects to conjure narratives of immigration and migration in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands.
Tanya is a core member of the award-winning ensemble Campo Santo, a member of Wingspace Design and an organizing member of La Gente: The Latiné Theatre Production Network. She received an MFA in scenic design from CalArts.
Awards:
- 2026 United States Artists Fellow
- Princess Grace Special Project Award
- Princess Grace Fabergé Theatre Award