Bossa Nova Baby Brings an Immersive Amazon Rainforest to Atlanta

By Mary Welch

Last Updated May 27, 2026

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At a Glance:

• Bossa Nova Baby: The Lungs of the Earth is a new immersive rainforest experience at the Woodruff Arts Center in Midtown Atlanta.
• Designed for children ages newborn to 5, the sensory-rich installation features lights, sound, music and hands-on play.
• Guests can splash in a projected river, explore a cave, play instruments and experience simulated rainforest rainstorms every 30 minutes.
• The experience was created by the Alliance Theatre and Atlanta-based Dash Studio.
• The installation draws inspiration from the Amazon rainforest and includes subtle educational elements about conservation and biodiversity.
• Bossa Nova Baby is now open and will remain on view through August 2027.
• Located inside the PNC PlaySpace, the experience is designed to engage children, parents and grandparents alike.

It would be fair to say that when you walk into Bossa Nova Baby: The Lungs of the Earth, a fully immersive sensory world at the PNC PlaySpace, you will have a bit of a sensory overload and a sense of wonderment. Think of Dorothy entering Oz for the first time., “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” Alice going through the Looking Glass. You get the idea.

The space, conceived by the Alliance Theatre and designed by Atlanta-based Dash Studio, is targeted for the youngest among us: newborns to 5-year-olds. But frankly, anyone of any age will love being transported to the heart of the Amazon rainforest where frogs and fungi lead the way through a living environment of light, sound and handmade wonder. Located in the PNC PlaySpace inside the Memorial Arts Center at the Woodruff Arts Center in Midtown, Bossa Nova Baby transports toddlers to the rainforest so they can splash in a project-mapped river, touch the hug wall and play handcrafted instruments.

Bossa Nova Baby will be open until August 2027.

“When the Alliance asked us to design this project, it involved transforming white boxes into art spaces that are not traditional galleries,” said Courtney Hammond, creative director of Dash Studio. “I absolutely love throwing gasoline on a creative fire. We wanted to take a great idea and then put the pieces together to make it come alive. We thought about what the pieces were that would make this whole, and seeing how ideas and the skills of everyone working on it would fit together and elevate each other’s work.

“We wanted to suspend people from reality, and we dug in with a lot of collaborators to rebuild a Brazilian rain forest with Bossa nova moves. We wanted it to be the most accessible, fun and most educational without feeling that it’s forced,” she said.

When Olivia Aston Bosworth, Dan Reardon director of youth and families for the Alliance, approached Hammond, she knew they “would be in for a sensory treat. “Their execution of many favorite third spaces around the city of Atlanta was evidence that they could deliver something provocative and playful,” she said. “Our collective dream of a fully immersive, multi-sensory environment was realized beautifully from the first design presentation with Dash Studio.”

For Hammond, the creative process involved collaborating with partners and a “beautiful network of people who understand what I’m trying to do.” In fact, some of the artwork was “too big to bring to reality” and ended up on the imaginary cutting floor. “My hope is that we can bring these high-end luxury tapestries and use them later, but what we needed were things that were touchable, that kids could rub their faces in.”

Of course, with a project of this scale, a lot of research was needed to transform it into sensory experiences. “Artists have to figure out the color palette,” Hammond said. “For instance, the rainforest floor, specifically, is not always green. It’s moss and earth tones and purples and reds, and the color palette for frogs alone is wild. We have soft sculptures of really beautiful frog patterns in the seating area.”

The space needed to be “alive and be a 24-hour rainforest, so there are day-to-night light transformations, and it rains every 30 minutes and the lights change together. When it starts to rain, you’re surrounded by changes in light and sound and the river moving. It’s a magical experience,” she said.

Another challenge was that the space was aimed at newborns to 5-year-olds, a demographic rarely catered to in the arts. “So often public spaces are not designed for hands-on exploration, wonder and risk-taking, said Bosworth. “We know engaging in arts experiences makes a profound impact on the development of a child, and we believe we have a responsibility to do everything we can to give children a chance to explore their potential through our art form.”

“It was cool to think that the space was built for babies to age 5, but it was also a cool challenge to think about the space not just being built for them but for grandparents, parents and adults coming to it,” Hammond said. “How can you make a space with no generational divide? We want parents to have a good time with their children. Parents want a ‘wow,’ and I hope that childlike wonder never goes away. We had an engineer working on this, and it was so stressful. He loved the hug wall. He just needed a hug.”

Of course, behind it all, Bossa Nova Baby is an educational experience where guests will learn about the forest’s restoration efforts, about the various species (a new species is discovered every 48 hours) and the amount of oxygen the Amazon produces. “Conceptually, so much is there. We really loved soft learning opportunities. We thought about every detail. Everything is intentional. We thought about what flows into the canopy and that the river needed to reach the cave, so we built a cave. Nothing feels better than educating, and this has so many positive elements and otherworldly elements of the rainforest. It just feels good,” Hammond said. 

Bossa Nova Baby is now open, and it’s fair to say it has overwhelmed and delighted everyone who visits. “I love seeing kids scrunch their faces at just going, ‘Wow!’ I have videos of my friends’ children experiencing it, and it’s heart-melting,” Hammond said. “They are running about with sheer joy. Even when teenagers walk by, they get really excited.”

Bosworth notes that it adds another dimension to Atlanta’s acclaimed cultural scene. “Families are in awe of this space. Truly. The transformative quality of stepping into the quiet, calm rainforest in the heart of the city of Atlanta invites a collective exhale from caregivers of small children,” she said. “And their toddlers are taking the Woodruff Arts Center by storm and claiming the space as their own. There is no higher praise for our work than the confident child that emerges from it.” 

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Mary Welch is an award-winning writer who has reported on the maturity off Atlanta’s culinary and hospitality scene as well as its growth as a sophisticated international city. Her byline has been seen in local and national outlets such as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Travelgirl, Global Atlanta, and American Lawyer covering topics such as travel, business, cars, law, hospitality and education. She co-authored a book with Chuck Leavell, the keyboardist for the Rolling Stones and a Georgia tree farmer, on the future of the American forest.

Originally Published May 25, 2026