The New Media Art & Sound Summit is coming back to East Austin later this month, bringing three nights of experimental music, film, and projection art to Cherrywood Center from September 25 through September 27. Daily performances run from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., with single-day tickets priced at $15 and a full three-day festival pass available for $30.
The festival, known to locals as NMASS, is presented by Church of the Friendly Ghost (COTFG), which officially incorporated as an independent 501(c)(3) charitable organization in 2024, according to NMASS's own history page. The nonprofit took a one-year hiatus from producing the summit that year to focus on organizational strengthening, after becoming a sponsored project of Salvage Vanguard Theater in 2007.
A Two-Decade Journey Through East Austin
COTFG's roots run deep in the neighborhood. The group formed at an old church on the east side in 2003, according to the summit's own history, before relocating to Salvage Vanguard Theater on Manor Road, where it operated from 2007 until June 2016. In 2016, Salvage Vanguard Theater and the art projects in its building moved out, as detailed in a 2012 CultureMap Austin report.
This year's host venue is Cherrywood Center, at 1605 E. 38th 1/2 St.
Portland's Patricia Wolf Headlines a Global-Local Bill
Topping this year's bill is Portland, Oregon-based musician Patricia Wolf, who will perform at the summit.
Alongside Wolf, the 2026 lineup draws heavily on Austin's own avant-garde scene, including the Peter Stopschinski Ensemble, Stop Motion Orchestra, and percussionist Lisa Cameron. Additional presenters named for this year's summit include Mongoose, Jaycie Carver, Kenzie Slottow, Sacabambaspis, Travis Burns, Seetha Shivaswamy, Christopher Petkus, Sleeping Beast, Emily Beisel, Kenken Gorder, MDN, and BASS BOSS.
Visuals and a Legacy of Bridging Scenes
Visual environments and projection art for the three-day festival are being designed by Austin-based creative teams RECSPEC and BRAINWAVVE. COTFG has presented film screenings, and the summit includes visual environments and projection art.
NMASS's documented history includes events from 2020 onward. Founder Aaron Mace framed the summit as a fertile testing ground for local cross-disciplinary artists, a description that still seems to fit as the festival folds in visiting national acts alongside longtime local mainstays.
Accessibility Efforts Behind the Scenes
COTFG's growth as a nonprofit has come with a broader push toward accessibility in experimental sound art. In August 2025, the organization collaborated with the Museum of Human Achievement's Collaborative Art + Technology Situation program to host an accessibility workshop co-facilitated by musician Henna Chou and UX researcher Erica Braverman, focused on creative coding and performance techniques for live phonography aimed at hard-of-hearing audiences.
Organizers note that event schedules are always subject to change due to weather or other concerns, and they recommend that guests check with the venue or organization directly to confirm the event is taking place as scheduled. More details and updates on the full lineup are available on the NMASS website.
