December 27, 2025 | Theatre,

Who Is Janet Echelman, the Sculptor Behind Noli Timere?

ArtsEmerson is eagerly anticipating the arrival of our first show of 2026, Noli Timere, coming to our stage in January. This aerial performance features eight extraordinary, multidisciplinary performers moving over and within a custom designed net sculpture, suspended up to 25 feet in the air, designed by world-renowned sculptor Janet Echelman.

Echelman, a Guggenheim Fellowship recipient, is known for her large-scale fiber art installations, which often blend art, architecture, and engineering into a singular, magnificent piece. These sculptures, which can be seen around the world, interact with natural elements like wind and light, creating dynamic and ever-changing forms – an element that is clear in Noli Timere as well. She first began using fibers as her art medium after watching fishermen bundling their nets, inspiring her to create a series of netted sculptures (in collaboration with the fishermen)!

Since then, Echelman’s net sculptures have continued to evolve, as she now develops massive sculpture using machine-woven PTFE and ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene. These fibers are both light-weight but are extremely resistant to corrosive materials and abrasion, making them ideal materials to use for sculptures that are often suspended from skyscrapers and can continue shifting and rippling with air currents, without the concern of collapse.

These net sculptures can be seen around the world and are often paired with excerpts from poems or other pieces of literature. Some of Echelman’s most notable structures include: Her Secret Is Patience in Downtown Phoenix, Butterfly Rest Stop in Frisco, Texas, Every Beating Second hung in San Fransisco International Airport, Water Sky Garden which is on display in Vancouver, Canada as a legacy piece from the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, and She Changes in Porto, Portugal.

ArtsEmerson patrons may have even seen a Janet Echelman sculpture in person at the Rose Kennedy Greenway, just a short distance away from  our theaters! As If It Were Already Here was a 245-foot long piece tethered between surrounding skyscrapers from May-October 2015. This piece as a direct homage to Boston’s history and the space it was suspended across: three voids in the sculpture recalled the history of Tri-Mountain, a hilly area in Downtown Boston that was eventually flattened to create more land near the Harbor, while six stripes across the piece represented the six lanes of traffic that existed in the space before the Big Dig. As If It Were Already Here was awarded the Harleston Parker Medal by the Boston Society of Architecture, recognizing the piece as “the most beautiful piece of architecture, building, monument, or structure built in the metropolitan Boston area in the past 10 years.”

In 2026, Janet Echelman will make her triumphant return to Boston with a new sculpture, suspended in the Cutler Majestic Theater, as part of the show Noli Timere. This is a not-t0-be missed show, as it is a unique opportunity to see one of Echelman’s world-famous sculptures in person, along side work from award-winning choreographer Rebecca Lazier and acclaimed Quebecoise composer Jorane. Noli Timere runs from January 29 – February 1 at the Emerson Cutler Majestic in Downtown Boston. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased online, over the phone, or in person at the Box Office. We look forward to seeing you at the theater for this kickoff to 2026!