Gordon Hempton and Perri Lynch Howard, Hear ME Out
ACA
Hear Me Out: the relationship between
people and places.
Sound artists, Gordon Hempton and Perri Lynch Howard have released their creative contribution to the community. Both were the 2024 artists-in-residence at the ACA Soundscape Field Station, a partnership between Atlantic Center for the Arts and Canaveral National Seashore.
Hear Me Out is a visual and sound art piece that asks the question, “do artists have a responsibility to defend the beauty that inspires their creative work? We quietly nod yes. The voice of Doris Leeper, here and hear. The dawn chorus and evening insects, here and hear. This work…stands as a pilot project for a deeper investigation into the synergistic relationship between people and places.”
– Perri Lynch Howard
Hempton and Howard were embedded in the soundscape of the Eldora community for five weeks, “listening for pockets of quiet between bustles of commuter traffic overland, and overpopulated airspace above. We drew inspiration from Mark Twain, John Muir, Walt Whitman, Shakespeare, and Doris ‘Doc’ Leeper. If these fierce luminaries hadn't done their work, we couldn’t do ours. Sometimes in tandem, and otherwise in sequence, we led sound walks and created soundscapes for blind youth and community members longing for quiet at Canaveral National Seashore.”
Gordon Hempton is an Emmy award winning field recordist most famous for his project “One Square Inch,” an area of silence located within the Hoh Rainforest of Olympic National Park. He created the non-profit Quiet Parks International (QPI), which advocates saving quiet for the benefit of all life. Working together with Perri Lynch Howard and other collaborators, QPI promotes “a world that offers quiet within and without. A world where everyone has daily access to quiet and opportunities to listen to the sounds of nature. A world where the experience of quiet nature is directly linked to inner quiet, peace and joy of being. When we save quiet, we save everything else.”
The 2024 residency is supported by Friends of Canaveral, the City of New Smyrna Beach, Latitude Margaritaville and Atlantic Center for the Arts. For media inquiries, please contact Eve Payor, ACA Community Arts Director at 386-423-1753 or Laura Henning, Chief of Interpretation & Visitor Services, Canaveral National Seashore at 321-267-1110 ext. 25.
NPS/Photo Eve
2024 ARTIST IN RESIDENCE
The ACA Soundscape Field Station, a partnership between Atlantic Center for the Arts and Canaveral National Seashore, announces sound artists, Gordon Hempton and Perri Lynch Howard as its 2024 artists-in-residence. This residency program invites musicians, composers, and ecologists to find innovative approaches that help preserve a healthy and balanced soundscape for current and future generations. Atlantic Center for the Arts has over 45 years of experience in producing artist-in-residency programs that attract distinguished artists from all over the world.
Public Events – Free and open to everyone:
March 2, 2024 at 1PM Sound & Story at ACA Harris House
March 2, 2024 at 5:30PM Artist Talk with Perri Lynch Howard at ACA Harris House
March 8, 2024 at 7PM Sound is an Expression of Space at ACA Main Campus Amphitheater
March 9, 2024 at 11AM Soundwalk at Canaveral National Seashore (meet at Eldora State House)
NPS/Photo: ACA
From February 10 – March 16, 2024, Hempton and Howard will work at the Doris Leeper House at Canaveral National Seashore, a house that was recently added to the National Register of Historic Places. Gordon Hempton is an Emmy award winning field recordist most famous for his project “One Square Inch,” an area of silence located within the Hoh Rainforest of Olympic National Park. He created the non-profit Quiet Parks International (QPI), which advocates saving quiet for the benefit of all life. Working together with Perri Lynch Howard and other collaborators, QPI promotes “a world that offers quiet within and without. A world where everyone has daily access to quiet and opportunities to listen to the sounds of nature. A world where the experience of quiet nature is directly linked to inner quiet, peace and joy of being. When we save quiet, we save everything else.” During the artist’s time in residence, they will lead public outreach events, such as Howard’s “Sound & Story” workshop, which investigates sense of place and how we can each attune our listening perception. All upcoming public outreach events are listed on the Atlantic Center for the Arts website.
NPS/Photo
The Artist-In-Residence Program
The legacy of artist and environmentalist Doris Leeper has connected Canaveral National Seashore and Atlantic Center for the Arts (ACA) for many years. The two organizations are now embarking on a collaboration that uses creative arts to advocate for environmental health. Leeper’s home at Eldora, located on the grounds of Canaveral National Seashore, is the site of an environmental artist residency program unlike any other in the United States. ACA's Soundscape Field Station at Canaveral National Seashore is the first of its kind in the United States dedicated to preservation of natural sounds, following in the tradition of other types of successful National Park Service artist residency programs located in more than 100 parks throughout the country.
ACA's Soundscape Field Station at Canaveral National Seashore , managed jointly by Canaveral National Seashore and Atlantic Center for the Arts is designed to provide a creative platform where sound artists and scientists can discover sustainable solutions and raise awareness of sound as a natural resource. The goal for each artist-in-residence is to find innovative approaches that help preserve a healthy and balanced soundscape for current and futuregenerations.
From urban design to wildlife ecology, the sounds of our environment tell a story of wildlife biodiversity and the health of people living in that community. The World Health Organization has compiled evidence that, “the burden of disease from environmental noise” can cause:
anxiety, hypertension, sleep deprivation, and high blood pressure
lack of concentration, loss of hearing, and loss of communication
In addition, adverse effects of human-based noise on wildlife causes:
ACA's Soundscape Field Station at Canaveral National Seashore is a:
creative studio
community classroom
audio laboratory
Canaveral National Seashore is an ideal location for soundscape work due to its protected location on the east central coast of Florida. The park contains 58,000 acres of barrier island, open lagoon, coastal hammock, pine flatwoods and offshore waters, representing an excellent example of a relatively stable barrier beach backed by a productive lagoon system. This stretch of land is known as one of the darkest spots on the east coast of Florida and is the control for darkness studies on sea turtle disorientation. ACA's Soundscape Field Station at Canaveral National Seashore offers a unique opportunity for artists to contribute to the public understanding and appreciation of Canaveral National Seashore. The curation team for this program is led by Atlantic Center for the Arts, an organization with over 40 years of experience in producing artist-in-residency programs that attract distinguished artists from all over the world.
This program invites sound artists, musicians, composers, field recordists, and soundscape ecologists to live and work in a historic home in Canaveral National Seashore for 4-6 weeks. Artists are encouraged to explore innovative ideas about environmental health and soundscape preservation. Each resident is required to volunteer time each week to interact with park visitors and facilitate community outreach. In a continuing effort to offer interpretive programs to the public, artists are asked to donate a tangible creative work produced at the residency. These works may take the form of exhibitions, digital recordings, slide lectures, visitor center resources, or video documentation.
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Support the program
ACA's Soundscape Field Station at Canaveral National Seashore is funded by contributions from individuals, private foundations, and educational institutions.
Support this program by contacting Eve Payor, Atlantic Center for the Arts Director of Community Programs at 386-427-6975.
