weaving village by singing together in places we love
Over the course of eight Sundays this spring, voices rose in harmony across Iowa City and beyond as SongLines, a collaborative community singing project, brought people together through shared sound, story, and place. From sustainable futures to sacred gathering, from public art spaces to historic landmarks, SongLines charted a musical journey that reflected the spirit of each location—and the people who gathered there.
Conceived as an immersive, site-specific experience, SongLines unfolded at eight locations, each selected for its cultural, social, or historical significance: the Resilient Sustainable Future for Iowa City, Sacred Collective, Public Space One, City High School, the Stanley Museum of Art, the Historic Johnson County Poor Farm, the Iowa City Bike Library, and culminating in a grand community celebration—the Big Sing—at Old Brick on May 4, 2025.
Each Sunday’s gathering explored a unique theme rooted in the identity of its host site. Participants didn’t just sing—they engaged with the space, the land, and each other. Workshops and performances often included original compositions, improvisation, and audience participation, encouraging all to raise their voices and be part of a larger whole. Whether in a high school auditorium or amidst the restored prairie of the Poor Farm, SongLines encouraged reflection on our collective pasts and futures, and how music can bind us across difference.
The series concluded with the Big Sing at Old Brick, where songs from the previous weeks echoed in a powerful, unifying celebration. As voices converged in harmony, SongLines left a lasting resonance—a living archive of connection, creativity, and community.
About the artist
About the Artist
How do we feel for and lift up the soul of a place? How do we intentionally weave together those who are stoking it, in rest + play + dreaming? How does the ancient, simple act of singing together remind us what our bones already know? How does this humble, collective music-making feed Life and the land that gives us home?
I’m learning about and deeply inspired by the Aboriginal tradition of songlines (also called song spirals or “dreaming tracks”) that map pathways of intimacy between land and people. New to this community, I’m feeling for the whisper of wind and song of river, the chorus of those already working for justice, fueling resilience, and insisting on beauty….steady thrum of the One Song in between and beneath the noise of modern discord.
For me, part of sensing a new place is feeling for resonance with those laboring in love and joining them in vision. Songs are a vital nutrient that catalyzes and refreshes work we will never see finished.
My hope for this project is to nourish the thriving of local community-building organizations and to cross-pollinate new connections by weaving these sites of aliveness together with a series of song circles that culminates in a Big Sing.
News about this project
