Klea McKenna, Born in 1824 (4) from the series Automatic Earth, 2016, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Ralph M. Parsons Fund, © Klea McKenna, digital image © Museum Associates/LACMA

Sounds of Nature

March 4, 2025
Eve Schillo, Associate Curator, Wallis Annenberg Photography Department

For thousands of years, cultures across the globe have engaged in sound bathing, incorporating the practice into daily life. In a sound bath, sound waves from various instruments—chimes, gongs, or singing bowls, among others—wash over you, aiding in relieving stress with soothing vibrations. Sound baths, which are having something of a resurgence in popularity, are a remarkable way to center yourself, and are in some respects in alignment with the concept of forest bathing, which involves immersing yourself in nature.


Cara Romero, Water Memory, 2015, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, gift of Dr. Loren G. Lipson, © Cara Romero, digital image © Museum Associates/LACMA

The exhibition Nature on Notice: Contemporary Art and Ecology, on view at Charles White Elementary School through August 2, 2025, showcases more than 20 artists from around the globe engaging in a visual dialogue about the “new nature” we are living. We invite you to join an immersive and meditative experience this Saturday, March 8, at 2 pm, when instructor Devon Cunningham will lead a sound bath in the exhibition. The artwork on view invites consideration about nature’s importance in our lives and its impact on all our senses, as well as our mental health. With the addition of contemplative sound, we hope to create the setting for a moment of positivity and to highlight the joy nature can bring us.


Installation photograph, Nature on Notice: Contemporary Art and Ecology, Charles White Elementary School Gallery, December 21, 2024–August 2, 2025, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA

Join this sound bath to enjoy meaningful time spent engaging with artwork that brings nature into focus from myriad perspectives, including from Indigenous cultures who have long honored and respected our dwelling on mother earth. Tickets are now available online.