Duquesne SoundWalk at the Frick

The Duquesne SoundWalk is on at The Frick Pittsburgh Museums & Gardens this October, a multisensory installation that lets you hear the history of the campus as you walk through it. It's a collaboration with students from Duquesne University's Mary Pappert School of Music, led by assistant professor of musicianship Dr. Nicole Vilkner. The students have put together soundscape recreations of the Frick campus, and you experience them by picking up a map at the Grable Visitor Center and scanning QR codes at SoundSites scattered across the grounds. As you move from one to the next, the audio adds a new layer of dimensionality to the museum experience, bringing the sights and sounds of Frick history to life.

The walk takes you through The Frick Pittsburgh itself—a Gilded Age museum and campus centered on the restored Clayton, the Frick family home, alongside The Frick Art Museum, the Car and Carriage Museum, and a ten-acre estate with a working Greenhouse and the Playhouse. The project was awarded the 2023-24 John G. Rangos Sr. Prize, a university-wide award for innovative academic initiatives imagined by Duquesne students and faculty, and the team is continuing to develop new SoundWalk projects in other locations.

It's open throughout October from 8 AM to 5 PM. Visiting The Frick Pittsburgh is free, though admission is required for Clayton tours and special exhibitions.