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For more than 15 years, Dan and Dawn Bihary have worked together to create immersive environments where architecture, craftsmanship, history, and storytelling come together.
Their work is built around a simple idea: Every detail should tell a story.
Their most extensive collaboration is the Lorain Historical Society Crèche—a 400-square-foot environment filled with hundreds of figures, buildings, landscapes, lighting effects, and carefully developed vignettes depicting life in Bethlehem.
OUR APPROACH
Every environment begins with a vision. We consider architecture, scale, proportion, placement, terrain, and movement to create a setting that feels like a complete world rather than a collection of individual pieces. Our goal is to establish an authentic sense of place before the first story is told.
We believe the smallest details can transform an environment. Figures, buildings, landscapes, lighting, and carefully composed vignettes work together to create stories that invite visitors to stop, look closer, and discover something new. The result is an experience that rewards both the first glance and the closer look.
THE ENVIRONMENT
Building Bethlehem
The Crèche begins with the creation of a world. Architecture, terrain, streets, structures, and landscape establish the setting before the individual stories begin. Over the years, we have developed the environment to create a sense of place that draws visitors into the world of Bethlehem and rewards them for looking closer.
THE PEOPLE
Every Figure Has a Story
More than a collection of figures, the Crèche is populated by people with lives, occupations, relationships, and stories of their own. We arrange individual characters into carefully composed vignettes that suggest the everyday life of Bethlehem and encourage visitors to pause and imagine the story unfolding around them.
THE VIGNETTES
Carefully composed scenes bring everyday life to the Crèche—merchants, families, travelers, craftsmen, and neighbors each contributing another story.
The finished Crèche is only the beginning of the story. Behind every building, figure, landscape, and vignette are hours of research, design, construction, modification, painting, and careful placement. Dan and Dawn work together throughout the process, continually refining the environment until the smallest details contribute to the larger story.
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