“Walk the Gap, Beyond Here, Beyond Now”
Artist Walks Series — Summer 2025
Guest artists curated a series of place-based, interactive walking experiences that explored the idea of “the gap” as a space between identities, times, and realities.
The series featured four artist-led walks:
Listening to the Train with Shi-An Costello — July 5
River Park Listening with Jeannette Dominguez — July 21
Experiments of Perception: Body as Canvas with Mónica Guzmán — August 9
Graveyard Meander with Eliza Fernand — August 24
All events were free and accessible to the public. Posters designed by Nat Brotherton.
The 2025 Artist Walk Series was funded in part through a CityArts Program grant — thank you to DCASE.
Listening to the Train, with Shi-An Costello
Peterson/Ridge Metra Station — July 5, 4pm
Shi-An guided walkers through the regularly occurring sounds in and around the station as participants discover them together, drawing on themes like memory, place, connections, and divisions. This 1.3 mile walk concluded at Experimental Sound Studio, where Shi-An will gave a short demo-performance on 'prepared piano' using the sounds that were uncovered on the walk, while describing compositional techniques and extra-musical inspirations behind creating music with these found sounds.
Shi-An is a classical concert pianist, curator and composer of film, video, and concert music. He has appeared as a guest artist with the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic, Architek Percussion, Warhol Dervish String Quartet, and others. Shi-An has recorded four albums and his film credits include Flight of the Butterflies, Softly - A GIANT STEP, and Are You Happy With The Answer?
River Park Listening with Jeannette Dominguez
River Park — July 20, 7pm
A soundwalk at dusk led in collaboration with Good City Group, as part of the “Beyond Here, Beyond Now” artist walks series.We traced a slow loop from fieldhouse to confluence point, tuning into layered soundscapes shaped by history, infrastructure, and ecology. At the meeting of the North Branch of the Chicago River and the manmade North Shore Channel, we reflected on the park’s position, a story shaped through colonization, industrial engineering, and environmental restoration.
Participants moved between natural and built environments, listening to cottonwoods, cicadas, river flow, and overhead airplane drones. At the confluence, we attached a Geofón magnet to the railing, amplifying earthly vibrations, hums of the river, footfall, and spontaneous voice play. The walk offered a gentle disruption of how we move through public space, inviting deeper attunement to place and presence
Jeanette (she/they) is a Tejana listener living in the Midwest. Their work spans field recording, sound mixing on film sets, and experimental composition stitching together recordings drawn from familial archives. They are currently deepening their connection to sound through ongoing study in the principles of Deep Listening. Jeanette's interests are rooted in place, memory, and the quiet harmonies that emerge and intermingle across built and natural landscapes. Their work aims to invite shared moments of listening, reflection, and play.
Click to view Walk Listen Create link:→ walklistencreate.org/walkingpiece/river-park-listening
Experiments of Perception: Body as Canvas with Mónica Guzmán
West Ridge Nature Park — August 9, 10am
Mónica, a bilingual psychotherapist, art therapist, and somatic experiencing practitioner; channels her creative insight to design and lead programs that enhance well-being and foster community connection.
Click to view PDF:→ Walking-Experiments-of-Perception-Guide-by-Monica-Guzman-Digital
Graveyard Meander with Eliza Fernand
Rosehill Cemetery — August 24, 2pm
Eliza Fernand is an artist and educator who works primarily with video, sound, fabric, and clay. With a BFA in Sculpture and an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts, they have led a cross-country career, attending over a dozen artist residencies and exhibiting internationally. A newer citizen of Chicago, they continue to pursue artmaking and teaching opportunities, with the aim of provoking acceptance of loving practices outside of the norm, and promoting experimentation on all levels.
Click to view Zine:→ Good City Graveyard Meander Zine
