Echoes of Youth

Echoes of Youth is a multigenerational sound mapping project exploring youth experiences in New York City’s public spaces, produced by Megan Hattie Stahl. 16 audio stories were submitted in response to a Spring 2023 open call. These stories are now geolocated throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens via the Echoes mobile app, and can also be heard on the project’s official website.

Participants were invited to record short place-based memories of their youth, defined as between the ages of 15 and 24. Stahl’s interest in this specific life stage stems from the power of her own youth memories, from her rebellious teenage years in small town Oregon, to negotiating sudden freedom and anonymity in Paris as an au pair in her early twenties. With this project, she wondered if others were similarly marked by formative moments in specific locations… learning to be in the city, separate from the shelter and expectations of family and home.

Stories could be as simple as a voice memo or as complex as a multitrack production. Examples of chosen locations included parks, 24-hour restaurants, public pools, hospitals, subway stations, and noteworthy apartments. Submitted stories were also eligible for cash prizes in four award categories: “Most Historical,” “Most Creative,” “Most Chaotic” and “Most Touching.” A jury panel of artists and academics working in sound, geography, and social practice voted on the entries, including Chloë Bass, Coline Chevrin, Andrew Demirjian, Meryl Jones, Madison Shaw and Betty Yu.

The project officially launched on the Echoes app on Saturday June 3, 2023, along with a Sunday kickoff party at Dweebs, a coffee shop in Bushwick, Brooklyn. This event also marked the opening of an art show in the form of installed QR codes linking to all 16 stories on the walls of Dweebs. The show will be up until mid-July.

Sign up here for updates on this project including information about future open calls!