Studio snapshot: In last week’s composition master class, Sky Macklay — composer, installation artist, and Guggenheim Fellow — shared insight and inspiration from her career, highlighting her creative process and the role of play as a source of inspiration.
Learn more about YSM’s composition program: music.yale.edu/composition
Link in bio.
Amazing concert yesterday at the @pikesville_armory with @skymacklay@drbonnielander@tweecked performing with Sky’s new inflatable sound sculpture The Harmonicake.
The Harmonicake is a Willy Wonka-esque interactive kinetic inflatable sound sculpture consisting of a giant five-layer “cake” and four bellow-chairs. Both the cake and the bellow-chairs contain deconstructed harmonicas woven into the material. Air escapes through the harmonica tines, exciting them and creating beautiful and intense free-reed drone soundscapes. Visitors are invited to squish and sit on the bellow-chairs to change the articulation and turn the sculptures on and off.
Thanks so much to all the PopUp! artists @skymacklay@lessergonzalezalvarez@katiepumphreyart@grahamprojects@colorsqueezeparty for taking part in this exhibition and being game to try something big and new with us. ☺️
Today is the last day to see PopUp! at the Pikesville Armory. (There’s another Harmonicake performance at 4PM)
Huge thanks to everyone who came out to the various events during the festival, including yesterday’s artist talks and all of the fun family events. And special shout-out to @ktzem@pikesville_armory@mdartscouncil for helping us to make this wild project happen. Excited for more collaborations in the future and for the next evolution of the Armory!
Yesterday was a blast! The last event with the Harmonicake is today at (9/28) 4:00, free-reed extravaganza performance with Ben Richter and Simone Baron at the Pikesville Armory.
Introducing The Harmonicake, my new piece which is part of the PopUp Inflatable Art Festival, now to Sept 28th at the Pikesville Armory just north of Baltimore. Stay tuned for performances with the Harmonicake on 9/27 and 9/28!
PopUp! opens Thursday, September 11, 2025 at the @pikesville_armory
This free public art exhibition features playful, monumental-scale inflatable works by Baltimore artists @lessergonzalezalvarez@skymacklay@colorsqueezeparty@grahamprojects and @katiepumphreyart
Public Mechanics helped organize PopUp! in collaboration with Pikesville Armory Foundation, as the inaugural public art exhibition at the historic Pikesville Armory campus, which is in the early stages of an amazing transformation into a huge new community space in NW Baltimore.
The festival and exhibition run through Sunday, Sept. 28. Please join us Sept. 11 for the opening block party or at one of the many FREE events organized by the Armory and community members.
Some highlights include:
🎵 Public performances on 9/27 and 9/28 of Sky Macklay’s “The Harmonicake” — a Willy Wonka-esque sound sculpture consisting of a giant five-layer “cake” woven through with harmonicas that create drone soundscapes. (Visitors can also interact with Macklay’s piece!)
💭 Inflatable Structures! History talk + demo by @liz_flyntz (9/26)
🧶 A celebration of @sambarskyknitter ’s 25 years of knitting (9/14)
🧒 Kid-friendly events and family activities throughout the festival
More info and event registration at @pikesville_armory and pikesvillearmory.com/popup
Thanks to the Pikesville Armory Foundation, @mdartscouncil , and all of the amazing sponsors and volunteers who made this project possible.
We are honored to have finished a transformative residency at the Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Center (NVJDC) in collaboration with the University of Maryland Arts for All Faculty Fellow flutist Sarah Frisof, commissioned composers Josanne Francis, Sky Macklay, and Danielle Pesca, and performers Luke Wedge, Tiffany Richardson, Danielle Cho, and Erica Spear. This project brought world-premiere works and creative workshops designed for the teens—offering a space for expression, reflection, healing, and connection through music.
Inspired by the powerful photography-based artwork of Tawny Chatmon, we were grateful for her visit to speak with the students, which sparked meaningful engagement with the students. Over three days, the world-premiere works were performed, and students created melodies,, new compositions, poetry, and visual art, collaborating with the team of musicians to bring their ideas to life.
To cap off this residency, we recorded the commissioned works at University of Maryland, Baltimore County’s (UMBC) Linehan Concert Hall, ensuring the music—and the stories behind it—can reach audiences beyond the detention center. The students’ original works were also recorded during the final performance.
Thank you to everyone who made this possible!
Stay tuned for the release of the recordings!
#SoundImpact #MusicForChange #ArtsForAll #EmpowerThroughMusic #JuvenileJustice #HealingThroughMusic #NewMusic #CommunityEngagement
Excited to be back in the DMV this week, working with the awesome musicians of Sound Impact and guests Josanne Francis and Sky Macklay! We are leading workshops at the Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Center, and they are premiering and recording my new piece “Awakening.” It’s already sounding fantastic!
