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Common Senses Festival Brings Arts and Innovation to UNO This Spring

  • published: 2025/02/19
  • contact: Sam Peshek - Office of Strategic Marketing and Communications
  • email: unonews@unomaha.edu
Common Senses Festival

The University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) will take center stage in an extraordinary celebration of art, science, and disability acceptance as the 2025 Common Senses Festival arrives this spring.


➡️ What’s new: UNO’s Sapp Fieldhouse will host the world premiere of Sensorium Ex, a groundbreaking opera redefining disability representation in the performing arts. The festival will also bring dynamic discussions, sensory-friendly performances, and immersive experiences across the city, with UNO’s Barbara Weitz Community Engagement Center (CEC) serving as a hub for critical conversations on accessibility.


💡 Why it matters: The Common Senses Festival is expanding its mission beyond its autism-focused origins, now embracing a broader disability spectrum. The festival aligns with UNO’s commitment to accessibility, research, and community engagement​​. Read the full press release.


🔎 Zoom in:

  • Sensorium Ex (May 22-25) at UNO’s Sapp Fieldhouse will feature disabled performers and an innovative AI-driven Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) app, Sensorium AI. Sensorium Ex creates an entirely new operatic world – one that redefines who gets to have a voice.

  • Risky Disco (May 12-23) at UNO's CEC is a space where individuals of all cognitive and physical profiles can fully engage, explore, and celebrate creativity without limits. This experiential, avant-garde performance offers a dynamic series of curated interactions between teaching artists from BLUEBARN Theatre and The Omaha Community Playhouse, participants, and a rich array of sensory experiences.

  • Common Conversations (May 20-21) at UNO’s CEC will convene national experts to discuss disability equity and accessibility in the arts, with "Strength-Based Strategies & Disability Acceptance" on May 20 and "Building Accessibility in the Arts" on May 21.

  • My Disability Roadmap, an Emmy-winning documentary, will be screened at UNO in April and May​.


🎤 What they’re saying: Kate Noble Weitz, Founder & Director, Common Senses Festival: “Arts are where major cultural shifts start. With this festival, we’re not just changing the conversation around disability—we’re changing Omaha itself.”


🎟️ What’s next: Tickets go on sale March 8. Visit commonsensesfestival.com to explore the full lineup of events and discover how you can participate​.

About the Common Senses Festival

The Common Senses Festival was launched in 2022 in Omaha, Nebraska, as a first-of-its-kind exploration and celebration of intersections between science, art, and disability awareness.