NON:op Arts and Humanities and Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology partner for the sixth year to offer HEAR BELOW, a soundwalk through Chicago’s Pedway system. Guided soundwalks will be available from late April to early May and will be led by the Hear Below 2023 teaching artists cohort. This year’s self-guided edition, My Pedway Soundwalk, invites participants to rediscover the art of listening and share their experiences through audio, video, images, and text, which can be added to the Hear Below Community Archive.

The My Pedway Soundwalk webpage offers simple tools, such as the Pedway map, routes, and points of sonic interest, to help you embark on your own soundwalk. You can also record your personal experience using audio, video, images, and text and share it with non@nonopera.org to contribute to the developing archive.

Guided Soundwalks with Teaching Artists

There will be three in-person guided soundwalks throughout the months of April and May:

• Fri April 18th, 1:00pm w/ Jeanette Dominguez
  Starting at the benches outside of the main entrance to 303 East Wacker Dr.
• Fri April 25th, 1:00 pm w/ Sam Anthem
  Starting at the benches outside of the main entrance to 303 East Wacker Dr.
• Mon May 5th, 4:00 pm w/ Allen Moore
  Starting at the bottom floor of Block 37, 108 North State Street, near the elevators.

You can register for one or all of these soundwalks by clicking on the soundwalk registration link above.

Land Acknowledgement

As you walk through the Chicago Pedway, keep in mind that the Pedway and the City of Chicago are located on the ancestral homelands of the Council of the Three Fires: the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations. Many other tribes such as the Miami, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac, and Fox also called this area home. This region has long been a center for Indigenous people to gather, trade, and maintain kinship ties. Today, one of the largest urban American Indian communities in the United States resides in Chicago. Members of this community continue to contribute to the life of Chicago and to celebrate their heritage, practice traditions, and care for the land and waterways. Try to imagine the natural features and characteristics of these geographies, and try to hear, imaginatively, what this land might have sounded like 100, 300, or 500 years ago.

Teaching Artists and Soundwalk Designers

Allen Moore
Allen Moore (he/him/his) is a Black Interdisciplinary Visual Artist, Experimental Turntableist, Sound Artist, Educator and Youth Mentor born and raised in the Historic Village of Robbins IL. His conceptual premise is to analyze the signifiers of Blackness through performative Improvisation and experimentation. Find out more about Allen at www.allenmooreart.net. [photo by Derrick Alexander]

Sam Anthem
Sam is a research-based artist and organizer exploring and experimenting with what it means to be a guest. Weaving threads across archives, bodies, species, and social conventions, their work often interrogates one or several knowledge systems. Sam can be found petting cats, riding their bike, making noise at a protest, and participating in mutual aid efforts.

Jeanette Dominguez
I’m a Tejana listener exploring sound through field recording, film, and post-production. I have a soft spot for long walks, layered sounds, and quiet moments of shared listening. I’m drawn to projects rooted in care, collaboration, and curiosity — whether on set or out in the world. You can learn more about my work at www.jeanettedominguez.com. [photo by Seila Stone Photography]

Eric Leonardson
Eric Leonardson, a Chicago-based audio artist, is co-founder and President of the Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology, and Professor, Adjunct in Art and Technology/Sound Practices at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). As a performer, composer, sound designer, and inventor, he performs internationally and promotes acoustic ecology, connecting communities through sound, listening, and the environment.

Christophe Preissing
Mr. Preissing is the founder and artistic director of NON:op Arts and Humanities and is a sound composer, intermedia artist, curator, and producer. His work addresses the space between and among art forms and artists, and investigates non-hierarchical relationships among materials, co-creators, and audiences. Since 2020, he and NON:op have been focused on facilitating radical access, experimentation, and creativity across communities, while working collectively towards a more just society. [photo by Gonzalo Guzman]