Museum Without Walls: AUDIO

Audio programs for public art in Philadelphia

A program of the Association for Public Art (aPA), Museum Without Walls: AUDIO is an innovative and accessible outdoor sculpture audio program for Philadelphia’s preeminent collection of public art. A “multi-platform” interactive audio experience – available for free by cell phone, mobile app, audio download, or on the web – Museum Without Walls: AUDIO offers the unique histories that are not typically expressed on outdoor permanent signage.

 

Unlike audio tours that have a single authoritative guide or narrator, each speaker featured in Museum Without Walls: AUDIO is an “authentic voice” – someone who is connected to the sculpture by knowledge, experience, or affiliation. The program includes more than 75 audio programs featuring over 160 unique voices, including artists, educators, scientists, writers, curators, civic leaders, and historians.

Each Museum Without Walls: AUDIO program compliments the viewer’s experience of outdoor sculpture with a story that is as unique as the artwork it describes, featuring different voices, themes, and production styles, produced by award-winning public radio producers and journalists. Programs explore personal and cultural connections to the art, while offering insights into the artists and their processes, what the sculptures represent, the history surrounding the works, and why the pieces were commissioned and installed at specific sites in Philadelphia.

Dialing instructions for accessing the program by phone are attached to the signage at numerous stops for sculptures throughout Fairmount Park and Center City, and a map listing all of the artworks in the program is available to download.

HOW TO ACCESS

  • On our website Stream or download audio and view audio slideshows using our interactive map, gallery, or list of sculptures featured in the Museum Without Walls: AUDIO program. Explore the interactive map
  • Download the app available for free on Iphone and Android
  • On site call 215.399.9000 and enter the stop number located on the sculpture’s sign or our printed map.

Museum Without Walls: AUDIO is a collaborative project developed in partnership with local institutions and stakeholders, a team of consultants, and audio producers working with experts in history, documentary studies, media, and folklore. The program features over 150 diverse voices.

Partners:

Museum Without Walls: AUDIO was developed in partnership with Fairmount Park. Special thanks to the Center City District; Parkway Council Foundation; Philadelphia Office of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy and the City’s Public Art Office; Duane Morris LLP; Laurel Hill Cemetery; Presbyterian Historical Society; and the world-class Parkway Institutions.

Funders:

Museum Without Walls: AUDIO has been supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, the William Penn Foundation, and by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

 

Project Team:

ASSOCIATION FOR PUBLIC ART

  • Julia Perciasepe, Marketing & Communications Manager (Project Manager)
  • Laura Griffith, Deputy Director (Content Manager)
  • Ashley Lippolis, Communications Associate

PHILADELPHIA PARKS & RECREATION

  • Mark Focht, Former Executive Director
  • Robert Armstrong, Historic Preservation Specialist
  • Theresa Stuhlman, Historic Preservation and Development Administrator

PROJECT CONSULTANTS

  • Consulting Historian: Dr. Michael Zuckerman, University of Pennsylvania
  • Humanities Consultant: Dr. Amanda Dargan, CityLore NYC
  • Planning Consultants: Rob Rosenthal, The Salt Institute for Documentary Studies; Dr. David Gilbert, Griffin Technology; Steve Rowland, CultureWorks
  • Planning & Evaluation: Randi Korn & Associates

PRODUCTION TEAM

  • Editors/Project Managers: Kerrie Hillman and Hillary Frank
  • Segment Producers: Amanda Aroncyzk, Brendan Baker, Ben Calhoun, Ave Carillo, John DeLore, Nate DiMeo, Alex Gallafent, Marit Haahr, Kimberly Haas, Ann Heppermann, Anne Hoffman, Rachel James, Rick Karr, Jenny Lawton, Alex Lewis / Rowhome Productions, Sarah Lilley, Sharon Mashihi, Jonathan Menjivar, Jonathan Mitchell, Eric Molinsky, John Myers, Kara Oehler, Lu Olkowski, Sarah P. Reynolds, Rowhome Productions, Bruce Schimmel, Ben Shapiro, Yowei Shaw, Dallas Taylor, Bruce Wallace, and Jenna Weiss-Berman
  • Audio Engineer: Jeffrey Towne

DESIGNERS/PROVIDERS

  • Phone Tour: Stqry
  • App: Stqry
  • On-Site Sculpture Signage: Cloud Geshan and Gecko Group (design/layout), Urban Sign and Crane, Inc. (fabrication and installation)

ADDITIONAL CREDITS

Music on All Wars Memorial for Colored Soldiers and Sailors

“Lift Every Voice and Sing”
Written by: James Weldon Johnson with music by John Rosamond Johnson
Performed by: Reginald R. Robinson
Courtesy of Reginald R. Robinson

Music on Jesus Breaking Bread

“Gift of Finest Wheat”
Written by: Robert E. Kreutz
Performed by: Jonathan Mitchell
Courtesy: The Archdiocese of Philadelphia

Music on Monument to Six Million Jewish Martyrs

“Zog nit keyn mol!”
Written by: Hirsh Glick
Performed by: Martha Rock Birnbaum, mezzo soprano
Album: Timeless Jewish Songs (Shirim La’ad)
Courtesy: Leyerle Publications

Music on Stone Age in America

“Quartet No. 14 in G Major, Spring, K. 387”
Written by: Mozart
Performed by: Borromeo String Quartet
Courtesy: Borromeo String Quartet
Borromeo String Quartet / CC BY-NC-ND 3.0

“Waltz des Gauchers (with Les Gauchers Orchestra)”
Performed by: Les Gauchers Orchestra
Written by: Lee Maddeford
Courtesy: Lee Maddeford
Lee Maddeford / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

These public art lesson plans are designed to accompany the Museum Without Walls: AUDIO slideshows on this website, which are also on Vimeo and YouTube. The lessons have been developed as a six-part unit, beginning with an introduction to public art, which can be taught over five one-hour class periods.

The unit is organized so that lessons may be paired together enabling students to visualize historical trends and changes in public art. Lessons can also be used separately. They are aligned with the Pennsylvania standards for 4th and 5th grade students.

 

Three Discs, Once Lacking by Alexander Calder
Three Discs, One Lacking by Alexander Stirling Calder. Photo Caitlin Martin © 2010 for the Association for Public Art.

Overview:

An Introduction to Public Art

 

Sculpture-specific Lesson Plans:

Charioteer of Delphi

Iroquois

Jesus Breaking Bread

Kopernik

Three Discs, One Lacking

Sleeping Woman

Need More Information?

General Inquiries

For more information, contact Julia Perciasepe at jperciasepe@associationforpublicart.org or call 215-546-7550