
Amanda Borghi, of Inherent Sound and 229 Yoga, creates soothing tones with crystal bowls at the January 2022 session of Yoga in the Gallery in the Haley Gallery of the Albany Museum of Art. Borghi will lead The Art of Sound at 10 am on Saturday, March 26 in the Haley Gallery. No movement is required of participants in this meditative journey of art and sound. (Photo: The Albany Museum of Art/Jim Hendricks)
The Art of Sound Session Combines Art with Soothing, Rejuvenating Sounds
Enhance your art experience on Saturday, March 26 with The Art of Sound: The Way of Life. The sound meditation session that encourages participants to “reflect, reset and realign” starts at 10 am at the Albany Museum of Art.

Amanda Borghi, certified sound healing facilitator and owner of Inherent Sound, will guide participants on a meditative journey with soothing tones from instruments in the welcoming environment of the Haley Gallery, where Ray Pierotti’s exhibition The Way of Life is showing.
“While we have conducted The Art of Sound in the Haley Gallery before, this session is especially appropriate since Ray Pierotti’s work is based on the creation of visual representations of sounds,” AMA Director of Education and Public Programming Annie Vanoteghem said. “There will be a lot of positive synergy between Ray’s artworks and Amanda’s sounds that will make this a unique, rejuvenating experience.”
Borghi describes The Art of Sound session as a “unique sound meditation that will combine your breath, the vibration of your voice, and intentional focus on art to produce a meditation experience that will inspire your creative alignment and connection to self.”
She said she will guide participants on their meditation journey by utilizing instruments that create sounds, vibrations and frequencies that resonate and align with each of their chakras.
“The Way of Life exhibition displays art created and inspired by our chakras,” Borghi said. “Chakra translates to ‘wheel’ and is understood to be the energetic centers in our body associated with bundles of nerves, major organs, and areas of our energetic body that affect our emotional and physical well-being.
“During this session, participants will be invited into a vocal meditation that will guide us to focus on each individual chakra in an effort to observe each energetic space and use breath, sound and vibration to align and reset each chakra. The artwork will act as our visual focus and anchor during the experience."
“While we have conducted The Art of Sound in the Haley Gallery before, this session is especially appropriate since Ray Pierotti’s work is based on the creation of visual representations of sounds,” AMA Director of Education and Public Programming Annie Vanoteghem said. “There will be a lot of positive synergy between Ray’s artworks and Amanda’s sounds that will make this a unique, rejuvenating experience.”
Borghi describes The Art of Sound session as a “unique sound meditation that will combine your breath, the vibration of your voice, and intentional focus on art to produce a meditation experience that will inspire your creative alignment and connection to self.”
She said she will guide participants on their meditation journey by utilizing instruments that create sounds, vibrations and frequencies that resonate and align with each of their chakras.
“The Way of Life exhibition displays art created and inspired by our chakras,” Borghi said. “Chakra translates to ‘wheel’ and is understood to be the energetic centers in our body associated with bundles of nerves, major organs, and areas of our energetic body that affect our emotional and physical well-being.
“During this session, participants will be invited into a vocal meditation that will guide us to focus on each individual chakra in an effort to observe each energetic space and use breath, sound and vibration to align and reset each chakra. The artwork will act as our visual focus and anchor during the experience."

The setting will be the exhibition of artworks by Pierotti, a Shellman, Ga., artist who holds Master of Music degrees in musicology and musical composition from the University of Utah. He uses a device called a CymaScope to create Cymaglyphs, which are stopped-time images of given sounds as viewed in a CymaScope. In his suite of mixed-media paintings titled Sound Intervals that is part of his The Way of Life exhibition, Pierotti has composed intervals of “visual music” with their associated colors and shapes.
The doors for The Art of Sound: The Way of Life open at 9:30 am so that participants can set up in the gallery for the session, which begins promptly at 10 am. The AMA opens to the public at 10 am on Saturdays, but the Haley Gallery will be reserved exclusively for this session. The Haley Gallery will be accessible to other museum guests once the program, which will last about an hour, is completed.
Participants are asked to dress comfortably. There is no experience required to participate in The Art of Sound, and no movement is required.
“During this unique practice, participants will be invited to sit on the floor, as well as to lie down,” Borghi said. “Please bring a mat, pillows, blankets, and any other supports that will contribute to your comfort. It is also recommended to bring an eye mask and a journal if you keep one. If you are unable to be comfortable on the floor, you are welcome to bring a folding chair or a chair can be provided.”
The session may be experienced on multiple levels. At the most basic, the participant will be invited to relax and detach from daily stressors and experience a deep rest. At a dynamic level, the sound immersion encourages the participant to experience healing and support in their individual emotions, the processing of emotions, and experiences tied to them.
Participants also will learn the importance of self-care and creating a practice and habit of meditation. They will leave with knowledge and techniques on how to identify their emotional and physical state and respond via breathing and meditation techniques to support themselves.
“Meditation is not an escape,” Borghi said, “but rather a return to who we are. Meditation is not created to check out, but rather to check in, check on and give ourselves the attention we deserve. You deserve ease. You deserve rest. You deserve balance.”
Being a human, she noted, “has always come with challenges. Most would agree that today's world, more than ever, creates dynamics and what often feel like barriers to tapping into ease, balance and vital self-care.
“Self-care is not selfish but rather sacred and necessary. When we take time to reflect, reset and realign our mind, body and spirit, we set ourselves up to better step forward in our world and within ourselves. When we take time to listen to our inner world, we are better able to interact with the outer. When we heal ourselves, we heal those around us, and this is needed now more than ever.”
The cost to participate in The Art of Sound: The Way of Life is $30 for Albany Museum of Art members and $35 for non-members. A link to the secure online registration site may be found HERE.
The doors for The Art of Sound: The Way of Life open at 9:30 am so that participants can set up in the gallery for the session, which begins promptly at 10 am. The AMA opens to the public at 10 am on Saturdays, but the Haley Gallery will be reserved exclusively for this session. The Haley Gallery will be accessible to other museum guests once the program, which will last about an hour, is completed.
Participants are asked to dress comfortably. There is no experience required to participate in The Art of Sound, and no movement is required.
“During this unique practice, participants will be invited to sit on the floor, as well as to lie down,” Borghi said. “Please bring a mat, pillows, blankets, and any other supports that will contribute to your comfort. It is also recommended to bring an eye mask and a journal if you keep one. If you are unable to be comfortable on the floor, you are welcome to bring a folding chair or a chair can be provided.”
The session may be experienced on multiple levels. At the most basic, the participant will be invited to relax and detach from daily stressors and experience a deep rest. At a dynamic level, the sound immersion encourages the participant to experience healing and support in their individual emotions, the processing of emotions, and experiences tied to them.
Participants also will learn the importance of self-care and creating a practice and habit of meditation. They will leave with knowledge and techniques on how to identify their emotional and physical state and respond via breathing and meditation techniques to support themselves.
“Meditation is not an escape,” Borghi said, “but rather a return to who we are. Meditation is not created to check out, but rather to check in, check on and give ourselves the attention we deserve. You deserve ease. You deserve rest. You deserve balance.”
Being a human, she noted, “has always come with challenges. Most would agree that today's world, more than ever, creates dynamics and what often feel like barriers to tapping into ease, balance and vital self-care.
“Self-care is not selfish but rather sacred and necessary. When we take time to reflect, reset and realign our mind, body and spirit, we set ourselves up to better step forward in our world and within ourselves. When we take time to listen to our inner world, we are better able to interact with the outer. When we heal ourselves, we heal those around us, and this is needed now more than ever.”
The cost to participate in The Art of Sound: The Way of Life is $30 for Albany Museum of Art members and $35 for non-members. A link to the secure online registration site may be found HERE.
Those interested in The Art of Sound may also be interested in another program that will take place the preceding evening. The bimonthly Yoga in the Gallery session, led by 229 Yoga, will be conducted in the Haley Gallery at 5:30 pm on Friday, March 25.
Yoga in the Gallery is free to AMA members, and $10 for non-members. No registration is required. Participants should dress comfortably and bring a yoga mat to the session.
The Albany Museum of Art is located at 311 Meadowlark Drive, adjacent to Albany State University’s West Campus.
AMA EXHIBITIONS
Yoga in the Gallery is free to AMA members, and $10 for non-members. No registration is required. Participants should dress comfortably and bring a yoga mat to the session.
The Albany Museum of Art is located at 311 Meadowlark Drive, adjacent to Albany State University’s West Campus.
AMA EXHIBITIONS
- The Way of Life, Works by Ray Pierotti is in the Haley Gallery Jan 20 -April 23, 2022.
- Prismatic, Works by Melissa Huang is in the East Gallery Jan 20 -April 23, 2022.
- Ordo naturalis, Works by Eric Mack is in the McCormack Gallery Jan 20 -April 23, 2022.
- African Artifacts of Spirituality and Identity is in the Hodges Gallery Jan 20 -April 23, 2022.
- Escape Plan, installation by Elinor Saragoussi, is in the West Gallery.