New Non-Profit Identity, Operations, WFAE Affiliation & Board of Directors

Introducing Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology’s New Independent Identity, WFAE Affiliation, Non-Profit Status & Board of Directors

The Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology (MSAE) was founded in 2009, by a Chicago-based cohort who operated as the World Listening Project and Chicago Phonography, as a regional chapter of the American Society of Acoustic Ecology (ASAE).

Following numerous discussions in 2017, MSAE’s new leadership decided it was necessary to reestablish the MSAE as a non-profit corporation apart from the inactive ASAE, rather than being one of its regional chapters. This change affords MSAE the ability to collect and disburse membership dues, receive grants, and conduct in operations in the service of and alignment with its mission as a charitable organization serving in the public interest, registered in the State of Illinois. This new identity, preserves and builds upon nine years of accomplishments; actively engaging individuals, government agencies, academic institutions, local communities, and individuals all in the name of Acoustic Ecology in the Midwest region of the United States.

The process of non-profit incorporation is nearly complete. This includes establishing MSAE as membership organization affiliated with the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology (WFAE), an organization MSAE members have been directly involved in since 2009. As was the case with ASAE, MSAE members will also enjoy the benefits of being WFAE members.

Our Board of Directors reflect the well-established richness, integrity and diversity of Chicago’s creative community on many levels. Joining MSAE Co-chairs Jonathan Eiseman and Eric Leonardson are Norman W. Long and Amanda Gutierrez.

Norman W. Long is a Chicago-based sound artist who leads numerous soundwalks with MSAE. In 2017, he was AS220’s Artist in Residence and in December 2017, Artist in Residence at the EMS center for Swedish electroacoustic music and sound-art. These recent achievements were made possible through awards from 3Arts, a non-profit that ”works to sustain and promote artists in the six-county Chicago metropolitan area,” and the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.

Amanda Gutiérrez focuses on the relationships between the concepts of memory, home, and landscape. Born in Mexico City in 1978, she initially studied theater and later completed graduate studies at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, specializing in performance and new media. Currently, Amanda resides in Brooklyn, New York while actively exhibiting work, publishing papers, leading soundwalks, and pursuing a Ph.D in the Doctoral Programme in Humanities, Heritage, and Cultural Studies at the University of Girona, Spain.

MSAE’s Board of Directors are keenly interested in and open to collaborations and your recommendations for additional motivated, hands-on board members eager to support MSAE’s mission and operations.

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