CAC Open House

A Comparative Listening Event in Auburn Gresham

Economic disparities between Chicago neighborhoods have been clearly illuminated and put on display in community activist and photographer Tonika Johnson's Folded Map Project. From the perspective of sound, are these inequalities also apparent? For example, is the soundscape different in Lincoln Park and Englewood; Austin and the Gold Coast? How is it different and why? How does economic investment or disinvestment change the sound of a neighborhood? NON:op Open Opera Works' Christophe Preissing and artist Allen Moore partner with Open House Chicago to consider these questions. Aural Neighborhoods: A Comparative Listening Event is curated in partnership with NON:op Open Opera Works. It is adapted for social distancing with self-guided outdoor soundwalks in Chicago’s Auburn Gresham neighborhood and southeast Evanston. These neighborhoods were selected by NON:op because they are approximately the same distance from Chicago’s Loop, and they include sonic points of interest that roughly mirror each other in geography and content. Photo by Stephen J. Serio.