Art + Water Workshop: Aquasonos – Community Listening with Dameun Strange

Listening is a daily act that is both solo and collaborative: a conversation between family members over breakfast, taking in a lesson at school, a podcast that plays in your ears as you wait for the bus.

What happens when we listen, intentionally, together?

At this evening event, you are invited to listen together to the sounds of our watershed, from the ancient history of Como Lake to the birds of Frogtown Farm.  Sound scores by musician and composer Dameun Strange will be installed as listening environments in CRWD’s building and outdoor gardens. Tune in to three immersive works, including a new piece composed of field recordings gathered at the previous Aquasonos workshop on April 25. Learn more about the works you’ll hear at the event: Community Listening with Dameun Strange. Read an interview with Dameun about his work, AquaSonos: An Interview with Dameun Strange.

Registration (see below) is appreciated but not required. Light refreshments will be served.

Note: CRWD’s Mississippi River Room is equipped with an audio induction loop system, Midwest Hearing Loop. This listening technology connects directly to an individual’s hearing aid via a wireless connection. Please follow the directions posted on the wall to make use of this service.

This event is part of the We Are Water MN exhibit at Capitol Region Watershed District’s Watershed Learning Center from April 23 to June 14, 2026.

Art + Water Workshops are organized by CRWD Artist-in-Residence Sarah Peters and CRWD Community Engagement Coordinator Maricella Xiong.

Everyone is welcome at CRWD. We are committed to creating a safe environment for all visitors. If there are any safety updates, we will post them here and notify all registered participants. Questions? Please contact us; we’re happy to help!

Above image: Dameun Strange’s performance at Mirror Lab. Photo by Mirror Lab.

About the artist:

Dameun Strange is an acclaimed sound artist, multi-instrumentalist, and award-winning composer. His body of work encompasses conceptual electronic and improvised electro-acoustic compositions that delve into the narratives and themes of the African diaspora, frequently incorporating surrealist and Afrofuturist aesthetics. Through sound and poetry, Strange’s artistic aim is to articulate the beauty and resilience of the Black experience, drawing upon ancestral influences to convey stories of triumph and forge connections across the past, present, and future.

Strange has composed for notable artists and choreographers including Leslie Parker, Ananya Chatterjea, Joanna Lees, and Pramila Vasudevan. His significant accolades include the 2018 ACF | Create Award and a 2019 Jerome Hill Fellowship. Most recently, he was named the inaugural composer-in-residence for the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) for their 2025-26 60th anniversary season.

We Are Water MN is a project of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Minnesota Humanities Center in partnership with the Minnesota Historical Society; the Board of Water and Soil Resources; the Minnesota Departments of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources; and University of Minnesota Extension.

We are Water MN is paid for by the Clean Water Fund, part of the Clean Water, Land, & Legacy Amendment that was created with the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.