Coming August 2025
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Coming August 2025 〰️
Purple Urchin Sensory Room
Interactive Play Exhibit
An Inclusive Sensory Experience Rooted in Marine Conservation
Designed as a sanctuary for individuals with developmental disabilities, sensory sensitivities, anxiety, or trauma, the Purple Urchin Room uses multisensory, ocean-themed elements to create a gentle, stimulating environment where guests can explore and regulate their bodies and emotions at their own pace.
Tucked within the heart of Mendo LEAP, the Purple Urchin Sensory Room invites visitors into an underwater world of calm, wonder, and healing. Inspired by the vibrant but destructive purple urchins that now blanket our North Coast seafloor, this immersive space transforms ecological crisis into an opportunity for education, empathy, and sensory exploration.
Soft lighting dances like sun rays through water. A fiber optic jellyfish chandelier sways from the ceiling. Beneath it, glowing bubble tubes rise and fall in rhythm with calming ocean sounds.
Walls are adorned with textured coral reef panels, sound therapy machines, calming ocean visuals, hand-painted kelp forests, and hidden interactive sea creatures that invite touch, discovery, and engagement.
But this room is more than a sensory experience, it’s a metaphor for transformation. Just as we must find ways to live in balance with our coastal ecosystems, this space helps individuals learn to balance internal rhythms, manage overstimulation, and find peace in their own bodies.
It provides:
A safe, judgment-free zone to retreat and reset
Opportunities for therapeutic play and sensory integration
A calming option for children or adults overwhelmed by larger group settings
An inclusive, welcoming environment that respects all developmental stages
Open to all ages and abilities, the Purple Urchin Sensory Room also serves as a quiet haven for community members navigating sensory overload during events or field trips. It educates visitors about marine conservation while providing critical mental health and sensory regulation benefits to those who need it most.
Through the Purple Urchin Sensory Room, we turn local environmental challenges into opportunities for healing, inclusion, and growth offering a space as complex, resilient, and beautiful as the ocean itself.
Why It Matters
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Purple sea urchins are small, spiny marine invertebrates native to the Pacific Coast, typically found hiding in rocky crevices and feeding on drifting kelp.
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In 2013, a major marine heatwave known as "the blob" raised ocean temperatures along the Pacific Coast by up to 7°F, devastating Northern California’s bull kelp forests.
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This disruption led to a surge in purple sea urchin populations.
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The purple sea urchins began aggressively consuming local bull kelp forests…
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…Which caused harm to the ecosystem and collapsed local fisheries.
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At the same time, sea star wasting syndrome wiped out over 90% of the global sunflower sea star population—a key predator of urchins.
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With no natural predator, purple urchins exploded in number (by over 10,000%) and devastated kelp habitats, turning vibrant underwater ecosystems into barren seafloor “urchin barrens.”
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These urchins remain in a dormant, zombie-like state, waiting for nutrients to return—posing a long-term threat to kelp forest recovery.
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Sea otters significantly impact purple sea urchin populations and, consequently, the health of kelp forests. They are a natural predator of sea urchins, and their presence helps to control urchin populations, preventing them from overgrazing on kelp.
Meet the Artist
We are honored to introduce the artist behind the enchanting sea otter mural in our Purple Urchin Sensory Room: Dora Briley, a local creative whose heart for community is just as vibrant as her art.
A Mural From The Heart
When we asked her to lend her talents to bring our underwater sensory space to life, she didn’t hesitate. In fact, she offered to donate the mural entirely, asking for nothing in return—except one beautiful request: that we donate play passes to local single working moms.
“I was once a single mom working hard to raise my kids,” she shared. “A place like Mendo LEAP would’ve meant everything to us, but I wouldn’t have been able to afford it. Now that I can give back, I want to help moms who are where I once was.”
Her mural, a joyful depiction of a sea otter enjoying some tasty purple sea urchins amidst soft kelp and ocean bubbles, now graces the wall of our sensory room welcoming children and adults alike into a space of calm, wonder, and connection.
This mural is more than art. It’s a gift of love, of lived experience, and of healing through creativity and compassion. We are so grateful to have her as part of the Mendo LEAP family. In honor of Dora and her generosity we are donating 45 admission passes to a local organization that works with single moms.
You can follow Dora on her social channels @doradiditofukiah to see her many creative works of art and adventures around the area!
Join Us!
Are you looking for a meaningful way to give back to our community?
We invite you to join us in making a difference through a donation to the work we’re doing at Mendo LEAP. The Purple Urchin Sensory Room still has open sponsorship opportunities, and your support will help us create an inclusive, therapeutic space that serves children, adults, and families of all abilities. Together, we can bring this vision to life and make waves of positive change in our community.
Let’s collaborate to create something unforgettable.