exploring the role of sound in natural and cultural environments
12-1pm Friday, Feb. 8 join Eric Leonardson and Christophe Preissing at Space p11 as they discuss their soundwalking and listening practices leading up to HEAR BELOW: Listening to Chicago Underground. Space p11 is an independent gallery for off-grid art, architecture and culture, located in the Chicago Pedway.
Hear Below: Listening to Chicago Underground on Saturday, Feb. 9 will explore the east to west route from the Illinois Center located at northeast corner of Lake Street and Michigan Avenue, passing through the South Shore Platform, Millennium Station, the Chicago Cultural Center, Macy’s, the Red Line station, Block 37, the Blue Line Station, and end near Starbucks below the Richard J. Daley Center. We will stop and listen to the unique sound environment of each of these segments of the Pedway, get a little history along the way and conclude with a conversation at the end of the soundwalk.
Last May we announced our new nonprofit organization and identity. Building capacity to fulfill our mission is an ongoing effort. Let us know if you are interested in being part of our movement.
The Midwest includes a large geographic area of the United States. While the center has been located in Chicago, in keeping with our goals stated last May 2018. To extend the richness, integrity and diversity of Chicago’s creative community and include the Midwest as a whole and beyond, we are pleased to announce the addition of three new directors who extend the regional interests of our interstate organization.
Linda Keane joins us from Milwaukee, Wisconsin where she shares her focus as Professor in Architecture, Interior Architecture and Designed Objects (AIADO) at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, STUDIO 1023, and NEXT.cc providing educational animated activities for kids. Craig Eley from Madison, Wisconsin, is a new father who produces sound for radio, film and video, as well as his Field Noise podcast series. Craig holds a PhD in American Studies. Alex Braidwood serves as our new Secretary on the MSAE Board. He is active in Ames and Des Moines, Iowa as a graphic designer, acoustic ecologist, and Assistant Professor of Graphic Design and Sustainable Environments at Iowa State University. Alex’s current projects and information can be found on his website: http://listeninginstruments.com/
Continuing to serve on our board is MSAE Co-chair, Jonathan Eiseman. Based in Kalamazoo, Michigan he is completing his Master of Science at Western Michigan University. In Chicago, Norman W. Long leads soundwalks and produces field recordings and music locally, nationally, and internationally. Amanda Gutiérrez resides in Brooklyn, New York teaching part time while completing her PhD in the Doctoral Programme in Humanities, Heritage, and Cultural Studies at the University of Girona, Spain, and producing and exhibiting her sound work. MSAE Co-chair and founder, Eric Leonardson is an Adjunct Associate Professor teaching in Sound at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He also serves as President of the Word Forum for Acoustic Ecology and Executive Director of the World Listening Project.
Shake off your winter torpor and join us at the Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois all day Saturday, February 23, 2019. Among the activities and presentations, at 3:30pm – 4:00pm MSAE Co-chair and founder, Eric Leonardson will give the presentation “Acoustic Ecology: A Socially-Engaged Sonic Arts Approach in Urban and Natural Environments.”
The Donald E. Stephens Convention Center is located at 5555 North River Rd. In Rosemont, Illinois. Wild Things Conference is Organized every two years by a group of stewards, monitors, advocates, educators, Chicago Wilderness members, volunteers, and staff, all working together to promote and protect the prairies, woodlands, wetlands, wild yards, and natural parks of northeast Illinois, northwest Indiana, and southeast Wisconsin. General Registration on Eventbrite ends by February 9th. More details at www.wildthingscommunity.org.
Workshops for the 2019 Calling Frogs Survey are happening now!
Though fading in abundance frogs are recognized as a feature of urban and rural soundscapes in the springtime. Frog are a bellwether species. Their presence or absence clues us into the general health of our environment. The Calling Frog Survey is a group of “ordinary citizens, citizen-scientists and scientists who share a strong environmental ethic and a love for frogs. It does not matter if you are a beginner or a seasoned frogger; as a team we will all contribute valuable information that will help amphibians in our region. In the process, you will find that this is a fun way to spend time with friends and family.”
Data collected from the Calling Frog Survey will be used to guide regional conservation planning and local land management, to ensure that no other amphibian suffers the fate of the cricket frog. Read more on the Calling Frog Survey site.
Join Christophe Preissing and Eric Leonardson at 2pm Saturday, February 9 inside the Illinois Center (Northeast corner of Lake and Michigan). The soundwalk concludes near Starbucks below the Richard J. Daley Center near Clark and Randolph Streets. Read more on our Facebook Event.
Friday, February 8, 2019 at 12 PM – 1 PM
Space p11, 55 E. Randolph St., Pedway Level, Chicago
Join sound artists Eric Leonardson and Christophe Preissing at Space p11 as they discuss their soundwalking and listening practices leading up to HEAR BELOW: Listening to Chicago Underground. Space p11 is an independent gallery for off-grid art, architecture and culture, located in the Chicago Pedway. Learn more at https://space-p11.com/
Interested in acoustic ecology, science, sound, citizenship and art?
We are pleased to share this new opportunity directed by Alex Braidwood. Applications are now open for the Iowa Lakeside Lab summer AIR Program. Deadline: March 1, 2019. Read for details.
Couldn’t attend The Global Composition 2018 conference in Germany? Thankfully, video documentation of days 1 and 2 of the conference’s presentations and activities are available on YouTube!
Planning is underway for another series of fun, free public events for all ages led by local teaching artists in Chicago parks. Check back here this spring and subscribe to our newsletter to receive news directly in your inbox.
