Sound artist Ian Wellman guides workshop participants through the acoustic terrain of a region rebuilding after devastating wildfires

Seven months after wildfires devoured nearly 3,450 homes across Los Angeles County, a sound artist is teaching people to hear their recovering landscape with fresh ears.

Ian Wellman’s field recording workshop on August 10 will guide participants through both the acoustic and emotional terrain of post-fire Los Angeles. The three-and-a-half-hour session, “Introduction to Field Recording: Listening to the Air,” starts at Hahamongna Watershed Park before moving to indoor instruction at Fulcrum Arts headquarters.

Wellman brings significant credentials to the effort. The Los Angeles-based sound artist has released work on Room40, Dragon’s Eye Recordings, Luminous Drift, and Ash International.

He co-hosts “Zone Mapping” on dublab radio every third Saturday and works as an IATSE Y-1 Journeyman production sound mixer for film projects including “Inheritance” (2017).

The January 7 Eaton and Palisades fires burned over 14,000 acres, leaving scars both visible and audible across the county’s soundscape. Wellman’s workshop combines outdoor recording exercises at the 1,300-acre park—which extends from Devil’s Gate Dam into the San Gabriel Mountains—with listening exercises, equipment demonstrations, and group discussions.

The timing aligns with Wellman’s exhibition “Between the Noise,” running August 2 to 30 at Fulcrum Arts HQ, showcasing immersive surround-sound installations exploring the Arroyo Seco’s ecological and infrastructural resonance.

Participants need only bring headphones and a recording device; no prior experience is required. The workshop costs $5 to $25 on a sliding scale and runs 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sunday.

Information: 626-793-8171 or fulcrumarts.org/field-recording.

“Introduction to Field Recording: Listening to the Air” (Session 1) will run on Sunday, August 10 at 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Hahamongna Watershed Park, southeast corner of Oak Grove Drive and Foothill Boulevard, La Cañada Flintridge, and Fulcrum Arts HQ, 145 N. Raymond Ave., in Pasadena. For more call 626-793-8171 or visit https://www.fulcrumarts.org/field-recording/. Tickets: $5 to $25.