2016 Flint & Steel Resident, Jebney Lewis, along with Rick Snow and Christopher Staudinger created Songs of Home Songs of Change which raises questions about authorship, collaboration, and community involvement.

Songs of Home Songs of Change is a map of New Orleans. A collaboration between artist Jebney Lewis, musician Rick Snow, writer Christopher Staudinger, and around 50 students from different high schools in New Orleans, the map represents the city—famous for its music—through the unique sound palette that fills its streets and homes. The sculpture is made out of thin sheets of metal divided into smaller plates representing the city’s 17 wards. These plates sit on stands that rise from the ground at tabletop height. Each plate is attached to a magnet from an audio speaker, which transforms them into makeshift amplifiers. The map, composed of these sonified plates, “plays” field recordings that were made by the high-school students in response to the following prompt: “What are sounds that make you think of this city as ‘home,’ and what sounds can you use to tell a story about how the city is changing?” The students were then asked to write about the sounds they chose to record, which were collected in a booklet of texts that accompany the map. Click here to read the full article.