About this Event
Artist Erin Mallea will take participants by kayak to Sycamore Island for a listening walk. Managed by the Allegheny Land Trust, Sycamore Island is one of the few undeveloped islands in Allegheny County. The island hosts a significant floodplain hardwood forest and presents an opportunity for the public to visit and experience a woodland that is imperiled in Pennsylvania. Participants will be led on island walking trails with a series of listening prompts. We will practice redirecting attention by closely listening to distant, subtle and shifting sounds, increasing awareness of our larger sonic environment.
About the Kayak Tour Series
Shiftworks Community + Public Arts maintains a long-standing history of hosting and organizing walking tours for the public. To further expand this programmatic offering, Shiftworks commissioned Pittsburgh Creative Corps artists Erin Mallea and Monica Cervone McElwain to design and experiment with how tour-goers experience the region's public realm.
This series of kayak tours was conceptualized by the artists and focuses on engaging audience members through artmaking, participant observations, listening activities, and walking.
About Erin Mallea
Erin Mallea is a multidisciplinary artist currently based in Pittsburgh, PA. Her practice explores the past and present of particular microcosms as entry points into larger environmental, social, and political conditions. Often public and collaborative in nature, her work manifests in a range of media including installation, video, photography, writing, and participatory projects. She has exhibited at galleries, museums and DIY art spaces nationally and internationally, sent vibrations from a giant fungus throughout the atmosphere, and currently publishes Tree News, a newsletter about trees, people and places. Erin holds a MFA from Carnegie Mellon University (2019) and is an Assistant Professor of Art at the Pennsylvania State University School of Visual Arts.
Additional Information
Attendees are required to wear life vests, which will be provided on-site. Attendees must participate in a short kayak safety training, and sign a waiver before the tour begins. Please arrive promptly at 9:00 AM to undergo the short training and prepare to launch. Tour-goers will be on the water by 9:30 AM.
This tour will take place rain or shine. Please be prepared for any type of weather. If there is severe weather on the day of the tour requiring cancellation, participants will be notified by email 2 - 4 hours before the start of the tour.
Public restrooms are available at the marina.
Directions and Parking Information
Tour-goers will meet at 10.7 Marina. Please plan to arrive promptly at 9:00 AM. There is free parking at the marina. There are no nearby stops for Pittsburgh Regional Transit.
Accessibility
There are no accessibility accommodations for this tour.
Registration
Please note that there are two ticket types for this tour: Kayak Rental and Bringing My Own Kayak.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
10.7 Marina, 314 Arch Street, Verona, United States
USD 20.00 to USD 30.00
