Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology

Eliza Fernand: Exquisite Beach Corpse
2025-09-28 14:00 - 16:00 (America/Chicago)
Join interdisciplinary artist Eliza Fernand for a deep listening scavenger hunt in which we will interrogate our individual and collective value sets and question the usefulness of classification. Participants will enact body-based research, listening to the beach environment through a microphone, then capturing a collection of sounds in a relay game based on the surrealist drawing game, Exquisite Corpse. In this game and other versions of it, multiple people contribute portions of a drawing or a text without knowledge of the prior person’s contribution, leading to the revealing of a poetic end-product that relies on collective assembly.

We will meet at the point where Lunt ends at the beach park and practice listening together before forming six groups to explore the sonic landscape of the park blocks of Pratt, Farwell, Morse, Lunt, Greenleaf, and Estes. We will end by listening to the collective soundscapes in the Loyola Beach Field House, everyone will have the option to receive copies of the recordings via email.

RSVP here to join, maximum 24 participants: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdlyR1Bqp_HDd-gIizv6AJmSBK12et5eBrC6dJ4sLg8JfaF2g/viewform?usp=dialog

Eliza Fernand is an interdisciplinary artist working in sculptural disciplines as well as video and sound. They run a toll-free hotline at 1-833-NATR-XXX and occasionally perform noise music under the name Spooky Sounds Band. A professor of first-year courses at SAIC, sculpture at ChiArts, and queer quilting workshops in their Rogers Park studio, Eliza sees teaching and co-learning as a large part of their creative practice.

Location: Loyola Beach, 1102 W Lunt Ave

(meet at the south end of the parking lot)

Crabtree Ecotones Soundwalk
2025-10-11 16:00 - 17:30 | Crabtree Nature Center and Forest Preserve District of Cook County, 3 Stover Road, Barrington, Illinois, 60010
Join artist, educator, and Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology President Eric Leonardson on a unique soundwalk to engage listening and sound-making. Ecotones are transitional areas between different ecosystems, or plant communities, where species from both communities can coexist and interact. They often exhibit increased biodiversity due to the blending of habitats and unique environmental conditions created by the merging ecosystems.

We will learn about how plants and migrating animals, wind and water give their voice to what our eyes cannot see. Walk will last approximately 45 minutes and conclude with a reflective discussion.We will learn about how plants and migrating animals, wind and water give their voice to what our eyes cannot see. Walk will last approximately 45 minutes and conclude with a reflective discussion.

Rachel Epp Buller - Walking to Listen: Climate Moves
2025-11-15 10:00 - 11:30 | Newton Public Library, 223 E. 7th Street, Newtown, Kansas, 67114, United States
What are the sounds of Newton? How do sounds change as one season gives way to another? What sounds represent life here in 2025, and how might Newton sound different in 2050? Let’s go for a walk, listen to what is happening now, and imagine life here in the future. Led by Dr. Rachel Epp Buller.

Registration is required, and space is limited! Use the form here to sign up: https://newtonplks.libcal.com/event/15347623

Saturday, November 15, 2025

10:00 AM – 11:30 AM CT

Newton Public Library, 223 E 7th St, Newton, KS 67114

Plan to dress for the weather. In case of rain, we’ll adapt and do some listening together indoors. Our route will be mobility device- and wheelchair-accessible.

Dr. Rachel Epp Buller is a visual and sound artist who uses walking as a creative method and teaching strategy in her classes at Bethel College.

Teens, Let's go for a Soundwalk with Dr. Rachel Epp Buller
2025-11-17 16:00 - 17:00 | Newton Public Library, 223 E 7th St, Newton, KS 67114 , Newton, Kansas, 67114, United States
What are the sounds of Newton? How did Newton sound different 100 years ago, and how might this place sound different in the future? In this activity, we’ll go on a short walk to listen together, gather some sound recordings, and then work on designing a walk for other people to experience the sounds of Newton.

Short bio: Dr. Rachel Epp Buller is a visual and sound artist who loves to go for walks as a way to get to know people and places. She teaches at Bethel College. This project is supported with funding from the Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology.

Monday, November 174:00 – 5:00PM CTNewton Public Library, 223 E. 7th St., Newton, Kansas 67114

Meet at the Intrust room. This event is for teens ages 10-18 years old. Registration is required. Register at: https://newtonplks.libcal.com/event/15175029
