Archives for April 2020

I had the good fortune of stumbling across the Waller Creek Project over the course of Spring 2020 registration. I am an AET student focusing on music and sound, but it was a bit difficult to find music related courses for Spring 2020 for a number of reasons. No matter because I was able to discover this installation project as a result of searching for non music related courses to enroll in.

This project had its first iteration during Fall 2020, and we were able to work on a new version of it for Spring 2020—this time as a celebration and case study for the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.

My main job for the project was to work as a researcher within the Social Media Team, who was tasked with promoting our installation project, its numerous activities and events and with researching tangible data to measure the impact of our installation. I was able to work collaboratively with student leaders, such as Lauren McKinney, and faculty, like Kathryn Yeager, across campus to better understand how to go about measuring and extending the impact of this project.

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Lauren McKinney was integral in helping us framework a roadmap that would make it easier for people to decide how to take environmental action depending on the level of involvement they were looking for.

With the help of Kathryn Yeager, I was able to draft several versions of a survey whose purpose was to measure and document, with data, the impact and influence our installation had on people with regard to the environment. With the survey, we also planned to encourage people to make a pledge to the environment—any at all.

Though the initial goals of this project have changed, we continue to be hopeful of our campaign’s impact by finding ways to shed light into the lives of people as we persevere in these trying times. We have workshopped a few ideas to achieve this—mainly through the use of social media and graphic and audio content. We want people to look to nature during our time under quarantine to find peace and moments of calmness; we want people to find a new appreciation for their natural environments.

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Our main challenge in achieving our new goals is the difficulty of our new reality. Some days are better than others mentally and emotionally for all of us, and we no longer have the power and pull of our physical installation. Nevertheless, I think we can find a way to make it happen by working together. Though physically that is not an option, due to social distancing, we won’t let that get in the way of creating something truly special.

Hi my name’s Taylor Wood and I’m a sophomore Arts and Entertainment Technologies major. I am also a part of the sound/mental wellness team of the Waller Creek project. This project has helped me so much to develop my skills as a composer. This is one of the first major projects I have ever done involving my skillset, so it is very exciting!

Progress

All members of the sound team have completed their songs for the event, and we have met with so many new individuals that have taught us many facts on mental wellness. We also got to design a physical soundscape! The location for our soundscape is the field next to the service building on campus. We designed the speaker placement for the area, and we planned for two hammock racks to be at the center of the speakers so students could come by and relax. We also planned for yoga sessions to be going on throughout Earth Month, and we also were going to provide infused water. Another big event we planned for was the procession which will be from the UT Tower to Bass Concert Hall. Once at Bass Concert Hall our music will lay on the speakers there!

Goals

We are still in the process of recording voices for Bass Concert Hall. These recordings are promises of UT students to be more environmentally friendly. We plan to combine these with are songs for when the procession arrives. along with the songs for the nest and soundscape, that means we need 3 versions of each of our songs! It’s a lot of work but a lot of fun too! Once we start to install the nest and soundscape, we will need to check the speakers and make sure all of them are wired correctly. We also need to place the speakers around the nest so it is more inviting when people come in.

Obstacles of COVID-19

The outbreak of COVID-19 has put a strain on our project for sure, but that does not mean we cannot still help those around us! We want to make sure we put out mental wellness resources for those who need them in these dark times. We also are planning on providing yoga resources for those who need to destress at home. To finish the voice recordings we are working on we will be recording our family members. We are also setting up a shared Google Drive so people can submit their own recordings. It’s hard right now being isolated and it may not seem like we are all in this together but we are! Hearing the voices of all these people, even those who do not go to UT Austin, will emphasize that we are all connected and support each other!

Music

If you would like to listen to the song I am working on for the project I will leave it down below! I hope it brings you relief during these stressful times. I am excited to be a part of this project and I cannot wait to install it!

Hello! My name is Andrea Pantoja, and I’m a first year Biochemistry major who has the honor to be a part of the Waller Creek Earth Day project. Special thanks to Stuart Reichler for getting me involved!

Progress

With a background in doing research at Waller Creek with the Urban Ecosystems research stream, it was obvious that I would be most helpful with the Social Engagement team of this project. I worked very closely with my research instructors, Mary Poteet, Ruth Shear, and Stuart Reichler, to create posters educating the general public about our stream while also making sure that the information is clear and interesting for them. Below is the research-related signage my team and I developed:

Going Forward

Due to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Waller Creek Earth Day Exhibition has been postponed until further notice. Despite this, the class will overcome this obstacle and provide the public with a memorable virtual event focusing on sustainability, mental wellness, and discovery, themes which are important to emphasize now more than ever.

The Social Engagement team will continue with their goals of promoting Earth Month with the use of social media posts. In addition to weekly themes for Earth week, we will now be posting most of the signage that would have been incorporated into our event, student and faculty’s Earth Day promises, interviews with local Earth Day heroes, and more. My team will also strive to provide the community with a Sustainability Road-Map that Lauren has spent the semester researching and compiling, as well as a Virtual Promise Walk on Earth Day through whatever means we find the community will be most compelled to participate in.