Arizona Arts Live, the university's performing arts presenter, has looked to spark the spirit of play in the campus community with interactive installations. This year's installation – the "Cuk Ṣon Audiorama," located on the east side of Centennial Hall – is designed to provide the campus community with an escape from the noise and stress that the world can often bring.

The installation, which will be in place through Nov. 12, is an open-air concert auditorium that allows visitors to rest in the company of nature and music. 

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"Our hope is that it can be a way for people to get away from the noise of the news cycle and everything happening around us," said Chad Herzog, associate vice president for external relations and engagement and executive and artistic director for Arizona Arts Live. "It's an opportunity to unplug, put down your devices and sit with nature."

The "Cuk Ṣon Audiorama" opened Sept. 30. The name is derived from the Tohono O'odham name for Tucson, referring to the 17th-century O'odham village "at the base of the black hill." Audiorama is a term used to describe little gardens in Mexico that offer respite and often music

Visitors follow a path of decomposed granite to enter the space, and then are immediately surrounded by more than 100 plants and trees as well as rocks, benches and swinging chairs. A fountain adds trickling water to music from themed playlists being played in the area and the sounds of nature. A lending library ensures visitors have something to read while they relax, and a small stage is home to scheduled and impromptu musical performances.

Visitors can also expect some winged company.

"Within 48 hours of the first tree arriving, we started seeing butterflies, bees, hummingbirds, hawks and the occasional owl," Herzog said. "The wildlife adapted to the space quickly. The community has too. Very rarely do I walk by the space and not see multiple people sitting here. It's been really special."

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Inspiration from south of the border

Herzog said the idea for the audiorama came earlier this year while he was on a family vacation in Mexico City, where there are several similar spaces. (One example is this audiorama in Chapultepec.) 

"We went into one, planning to stay for 20 minutes," Herzog recalled. "An hour later, we realized we were still there."

Fate then stepped in, as Herzog ran into Carlos Arzate, a musician who had previously performed with Arizona Arts Live. He is also the owner of Arzate Design Group, a Tucson-based landscape and design company. Arzate had also seen the audioramas and began talking with Herzog about how to create something similar in Tucson. Herzog decided an audiorama could be the next in a series of interactive spaces that Arizona Arts Live has installed on campus each fall since 2021. Previous installations featured large red swings in 2021, harmonizing and glowing seesaws in 2022 and large spinning tops in 2023.

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Arzate, who has two children attending the University of Arizona, began reaching out to his partner companies around Tucson, including Ponderosa Cactus, Old Pueblo Hemp Company and Civano Growers, which all agreed to donate time and resources to the project. Arizona Arts Live worked with Facilities Management to select the site, which is within the university's historic district, and to make sure the historical elements of the area – such as grass berms previously used for irrigation and existing trees – would be preserved as the audiorama was installed and removed.

Herzog said his team has been maintaining the site since the first plant arrived.

"We've begun calling ourselves Arizona Arts Live Landscaping," he said. "Our team for the most part is used to doing work in Centennial Hall and dark theater spaces, but now we're getting to branch out and build spaces like this."

An educational opportunity

For Wendy Lotze, a lecturer in the School of Landscape Architecture, the audiorama provided a unique opportunity for her landscape construction and documentation class.

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"There aren't many opportunities for students of landscape architecture to see a project from beginning to end within a semester because landscape projects tend to take years to implement," Lotze said. "This project let my students see not only the temporary installation and the site before the construction, but they'll also see the site after the project has been taken down."

Lotze's students spoke to Herzog and Arzate about the design, and also with Chris Stebe, landscape architect with Facilities Management, about the historical elements of the project.

A temporary escape

Herzog said one of the most common questions he's heard since the installation opened is whether it can become permanent. While the plan remains for the audiorama to come down after Nov. 12, Herzog said there could be opportunities for similar spaces elsewhere on campus or throughout Tucson and Pima County.

He said the positive feedback he has received about the "Cuk Ṣon Audiorama" shows the effort is living up to the Arizona Arts Live tagline "Experience Unexpected."

"When you see a big swing or those seesaws, that's something that's unexpected, at least the first time you see it," Herzog said. "'Audiorama' is one of those places. We want people to feel. We don't tell people what they should feel, but we want them to feel something."

Take the feeling home

In addition to live musical performances on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4-5 p.m., the installation features music from curated playlists with a different theme each day of the week. The playlists are available on the "Cuk Ṣon Audiorama" website and are:

• Monday: Arizona Tribal Communities
• Tuesday: Chill Guitar
• Wednesday: Sounds From Mexico
• Thursday: Ambient Sounds
• Friday: Jazz
• Saturday: Music From Arizona Arts Live
• Sunday: Classical