In summer 2023 LA Metro began using classical music to discourage Angelenos from loitering in public spaces in and around the MacArthur Park station. In response, this workshop invites participants to gather, scavenge, remix, and share hyper-local sounds that reflect the neighborhood – a sonic love letter to MacArthur Park.

During this workshop, participants explored the station and its surroundings to collect and archive found sounds, then gather for a dinner and a guided discussion about the alternative soundscapes to confront hostile urban design practices. The exploration was guided by three iterative practices: ATTUNING, ENGAGING, and REFLECTING.

ATTUNING asked participants to consider: What do you perceive in this environment, what does the sound reveal about the space? How does sound make you feel? What associations do you make? What do you notice that you didn’t before? What do you want to hear more/less of?

ENGAGING asked participants to consider: Are you invited or discouraged to engage with the acoustic landscape ? How does your embodied presence interact with,alter or even disrupt the space? In what ways are you participating? What/whom are you overhearing?

REFLECTING asked participants to consider: What soundscapes did you register and what are their social, cultural, political dynamics? What did you learn? What do you know now? What has changed?

To conclude the workshop, we convened over food and drinks at nearby Guatemalan restaurant, Paseo Chapin, to share ideas and reflections. Our goal was to invite neighbors, students, and friends to collaborate on a collective creative expression that lays the foundation for ongoing conversations and action around spatial justice.