Anthropocene Mixtape: At the Water's Edge in ArtPrize (LIVE) 2026!

Anthropocene Mixtape: At the Water's Edge for ArtPrize! 

I am pleased to partner with The City of Grand Rapids in the 6th Street Park in Downtown Grand Rapids! As a recipient of the ArtPrize Artist Seed Grant, the funds will be used to produce and promote the work. 

About the project: 
What if our urgent stories about climate change were shared as immersive soundscapes expanding the field of Acoustic Ecology? My answer is a sonic reconstruction of this lost abundance, an Anthropocene Mixtape Series to explore imagined futures with a portal to the past.

Our bird populations are declining. I wonder what 50-90% more bids would sound like? Last year I produced an Owl Edition exploring the year-round song of Michigan Owls. This year, I propose to explore birds specific to the water's edge.

Healing City Waters Through Sound: In the realm of urban ecological design, artists are integrating acoustic ecology into waterfront restoration projects. Beyond measuring biodiversity, sound becomes a tool for regenerative design - used to engage communities with their local waterways, guide ecological interventions, and even influence environmental policy. As a practitioner, I often work at the intersection of art, science, and activism, using sound to highlight the past and potential future of urban waterways.

As Grand Rapids reimagines a public waterfront, I propose soundscapes as a tool to engage the community with the sense of possibility, if we design our waterfronts as functioning ecosystems we can restore declining bird populations, in part, by restoring important habitats. Using sidewalk silhouettes of birds in flight as shadowy memorials to past populations soaring overhead, I ground the soundscape in a site specific walk along the waterfront. 

LISTEN: Link here to play
VOTE:  Vote for Anthropocene Mixtape: At the Water's Edge:. Voter ID #47490 Link
VISIT: 6th Street Park in Grand Rapids MI, at the base of 6th Street Bridge. Stroll along at the water's edge and listen to the immersive soundscape of Michigan water birds. 

If you are an Owl lover check out last year's edition of Anthropocene Mixtape here and read a wonderful review here.