greenway

About

This project, commissioned by the Chatham Arts Council, with support from Chatham County and in collaboration with Pittsboro Parks and Recreation, comprises a site-specific, participatory audio piece and 2D artwork I’m creating specifically for the Robeson Creek Greenway in Pittsboro, North Carolina. I'm exploring the experience of being in nature, especially nature integrated into the urban environment.

The participatory audio piece will incorporate short, anonymous voice recordings I solicit from Chatham County residents, as well as field sounds from the greenway and original music. I will also create a 2D visual artwork, in which I translate data about the natural environment into collage, to be installed as public art at the greenway’s entrance.

The project will culminate in a public viewing and listening event on May 2, 2026.

Participate in the Audio Art

PLEASE NOTE: The solicitation for participation is now closed. I'm editing and juxtaposing and above all, listening, to your responses as I make the piece now.

Thank you to all who responded! The project is slated to premiere on May 2, 2026.

If you participated, I will text you an invite to the launch event!

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(The following was the solicitation for participation, in case anyone is curious.)

What does being in nature do for you? How does it make you feel?

If you've been down the Robeson Creek Greenway, what has been your experience of the greenway? How does it make you feel?

I invited anyone living or working in Chatham County (NC) to anonymously record their responses to any or all of these questions. I am now excerpting your voice responses and incorporating them into a site-specific, public audio art piece as part of the Chatham Arts Council's creative placemaking program.

There were two ways to participate:

Calling ‪(984) 377-3477‬ and leaving an anonymous voicemail.

Recording a voice memo on your phone and texting it anonymously to (919) 641-9367.

You didn't need any special knowledge or “perfect” words—just your honest voice.

(Note that by sending a recording, you gave permission for your voice to be edited into short excerpts and included in this public, non-commercial audio artwork.)

Frequently Asked Questions

Please reach us at felixobelix@gmail.com if you cannot find an answer to your question.

where is this greenway?

Robeson Creek itself runs through Chatham County, into the Haw River, and into Jordan Lake. The Robeson Creek Greenway is a paved, point-to-point trail that follows the creek in downtown Pittsboro, NC. One entrance of the greenway is off Sanford Rd., across the street from the Laundry Land Laundromat. The other entrance is off S. Small St., in a residential neighborhood. See this map for more. It is approximately 0.3 miles one way (so, 0.6 miles if you go out and back).

Googlemaps will indicate the Robeson Creek Greenway at the S. Small St. entrance.

For the audio piece, do you want me to say something positive?

Not necessarily! Please feel free to say exactly what's on your mind (about nature or the Robeson Creek Greenway), whether that's positive, negative, or neutral. I firmly believe that you shouldn't ask questions that have "wrong' answers"—that's not a legitimate way to make community-based, participatory art. Your responses, whatever their tone, are all valid.

That being said, I will bleep out expletives to keep the piece family-friendly, and I won't include language that discriminates on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetic information. In the many years I've done this kind of work, I've never had anyone leave discriminatory/hate speech responses.

how old do you have to be to participate?

All ages are welcome! In fact, I'd love a variety of ages participating: it makes for interesting perspectives and good audio!

What is the audio piece going to sound like?

This depends on who participates, how many people participate, and what they say. I generally edit responses into short, useable snippets, and then overlap voices to create a kind of conversation among the respondents. Add in some field recordings I will take of the site itself and original music (composed, performed, and recorded by me), and you have a complete piece of audio art. To give you an idea, you can listen to another project on grief, one on living in uncertain times, and one on the history of Dorothea Dix hospital in Raleigh.

I'm not a chatham county resident. Can I participate?

If you live or work in Chatham County, NC, I invite you to participate. Since this is a commissioned project by the Chatham Arts Council, and since it's place-based within Chatham County, I'm focusing first on participants who spend significant time in the county. If you aren't sure if you should participate, the answer is probably "yes." I err on the side of "yes" generally!

What if I mumble or sound dumb when i leave my message?

This is fine, and it's expected! You're welcome to speak naturally, off the cuff, in the moment because 1) it makes for natural-sounding, interesting audio and 2) I'll be editing out any "ummms" or "uhhhs" anyway. My goal is to handle your voices and responses ethically and with sensitivity. I'll make you sound good.

What does it cost to participate?

Nothing! It is free to participate, and the event on May 2 will be free and open to the public.

Are there any other things I should know?

If you leave a voice message, you're consenting to it being used in this piece of non-commercial audio art.

The Visual Art

In addition to the audio piece, I'm also creating a visual artwork, in which I will experiment with translating data into collage. My hope is that data can be made more beautiful, understandable, and useable if presented as an aesthetic experience.

This artwork, as well as the audio piece, will be premiered at the launch event on May 2, 2026.

A sneak peek of this artwork will be on view at Pittsboro's newest art space, Fluorescent Hallway Gallery, in the Mathiesen Clinic Building, next to All Day Records' satellite Pittsboro location. Read more about that event.

Felix Obelix

Wendy Spitzer, interdisciplinary artist

Holds Many Secrets, Hides Many Stories

About

Participate in the Audio Art

Frequently Asked Questions

The Visual Art

Thank You

This project is commissioned by the Chatham arts council...

...with support from Chatham county...

...in collaboration with pittsboro parks and recreation.

...in collaboration with pittsboro parks and recreation.