The Workshop is participating in Sound Arts Richmond, a multi-month series of exhibits, educational sessions, sensory experiences and more held at universities, museums, galleries, parks, on websites and in other spheres.

Each experience pushes the understanding of art beyond the visual. Artists and organizers behind the March-September schedule of sound-rich events are a who’s who of RVA sound artists. Many have ties to VCU.

According to Sound Arts Richmond, “sound  is rapidly growing as a significant contemporary art form that encourages us to perceive the world in profound new ways.”

VCU School of the Arts Department of Kinetic Imaging is part of the sound festival with Experiments in Sound, a series of workshops exploring sound as an art medium. Scheduled for May 29-June 30 at varied locations, these workshops invite participants to interact with sound in new, creative ways. Workshops are taught by local sound artists and Kinetic Imaging faculty, and many offer the opportunity to present finished projects in a culminating exhibition or performance.

Two of these workshops will be taught by the Innovative Media department’s Kelsey Sheaffer in The Workshop at James Branch Cabell Library. Kelsey holds a Masters in Fine Arts in Kinetic Imaging and is an interdisciplinary media artist and educator.

Build Your Own Contact Mic

Wednesday, May 30, 5 to 8 p.m.

Location: The Workshop, Cabell Library

Register

Join us for a free workshop on building your own contact microphone. Rather than amplifying sound in the air around us like most microphones, a contact microphone (also known as a piezo microphone) amplifies mechanical vibrations in solid objects. These recordings expose an infinite and amplified universe of sound that sonically reflects things we cannot see. We’ll teach basic soldering skills and show you how to solder up a piezo-electric pickup and house it sturdily in a recycled bottle-cap. This workshop is a great chance to make a new tool that you can use at other Sound Arts Richmond workshops.    

Podcasting 101

Monday, June 4, 5-7 p.m. or Wednesday, June 20, 6-8 p.m.

Location: The Workshop, Cabell Library

Register

This free, two-hour workshop is a crash course on everything you need to know to start a podcast. Audio-based programming known as podcasting has boomed in recent years as a way of communicating stories. This introductory course will show basic recording techniques, share tips, teach how to edit and mix to get the perfect final cut as well as show you how to publish your podcast and find an audience.