The New Castle and Frenchtown Railroad (NCFRR) was one of the first railroads in the United States. The railroad only operated for 28 years; as newer, more direct railways were built, the New Castle and Frenchtown Railroad was abandoned, and then without a commercial artery, the town of Frenchtown was also deserted. This obsolescence of the railroad and town is analogous to digital technological loss in its root in the movement of capital and technological change. In this exhibition, Youngborg engages with the town’s archive in conjunction with contemporary data to try and recreate a ghost without its community. Through glitch, loss, and (visual and sonic) layering, the sound and video installation questions the role of data, archives, and recreation in understanding place, loss and memory.

Tara Youngborg is a Maryland-based artist, educator, curator, and arts administrator. She has a BA in Art and Art History from St Mary’s College of Maryland and an MFA in Studio Art from Towson University. Her work uses digital technologies to create video and audio compositions that are combined into immersive installations that explore place, memory, and technology. Youngborg is a 2025-2026 Jack Straw New Media Gallery resident, 2025-2027 Hamiltonian Fellow, was awarded second place for the 2025 Trawick prize, and has been Artist-in-Residence at the St Mary’s College Artist House and the Torpedo Factory Art Center. She has presented her work in exhibitions at the George Washington Carver Center for the Arts, the University of Mary Washington Media wall, and The Delaware Contemporary, and in exhibitions across the United States and abroad.

My installations, video, and electronic and interactive artworks are rooted in questions of how our technological processes reflect human experience. I am using technology to respond to ideas around specific sites, and the ways that physical and digital worlds interact and overlay. There is a common tendency to use data and artificial intelligence in order to describe a pure, objective truth. However, the data we collect and tools we use to interpret information are all subjective, and true knowing is subjective. These installations make an attempt to know a site or piece of technology, but intentionally fall short and hold us back.

A Digital Sound and Sonification Workshop with Tara Youngborg

Thursday, June 18, 6:15 pm

Our featured solo artist, Tara Youngborg, will lead a digital sound workshop with a beginner-friendly coding language. In this workshop, you will be able to create a web page that can turn information from your computer or phone input into sounds, turning your device and the information it collects from your inputs into an instrument! Participants will need to bring a laptop, phone, or other device that can access the internet. Hillyer will provide Wifi access, if needed. Headphones are encouraged. 

Free for members ($10 for nonmembers). Register for this event.

To receive free admission to all workshops, consider becoming a Hillyer member.