Campus News
Who is Abby Aresty?
August 23, 2021
Yvonne Gay

One might expect a technical director and lecturer in the TIMARA department to have a related interest in sound, but did you know that Abby Aresty wore a traffic cone on her head in her preschool class photo? Learn more about Aresty in this installment of Who Am I?
Full Name: Abby Aresty
Department and location on campus: Technology in Music and Related Arts (TIMARA) located in the basement of Bibbins Hall
How many years at Oberlin? Four
Job title: Technical Director and Lecturer
What does your job entail? I manage the TIMARA studios and supervise the student workers who help to keep things running smoothly. I also teach classes in sound art, making, community-engaged art, and hybrid technologies, and manage a small lab of student workers who help with a variety of TIMARA-related community-engaged projects.
Have you always had a fascination with music? Yes, I started playing the horn in the fourth grade.
TIMARA is such a unique artform. What is it about this genre that interests you? I'm interested in all things related to sound and listening. TIMARA's combination of music, technology, and related arts affords a great deal of room for creative experimentation around these themes and across disciplines.
Favorite keepsake? The chuppah my mom wove for our wedding.
Favorite place in Oberlin and why? Home. My second favorite place in Oberlin is the TIMARA studios, for obvious reasons.
Favorite childhood memory? I have a group photo of my preschool class in which I am front and center, with a traffic cone on my head—the photo reminds me not to take myself too seriously.
Best vacation ever? Camping as a kid
Any recent achievements you would like to tell us about? I'm super proud of all the work we have put into the Girls Electronic Arts Retreat over the past two years.
Any new projects you would like to tell us about? I’m pretty excited about the throw pillow synthesizers we are making for the TIMARA lobby—shout out to Lily Lansdell and Kiera Saltz for all their work!
Hobbies? Dabbling in new things, especially crafts.
Nickname(s)? My favorite nickname, though it hasn't stuck yet, is Tabby, for all the web browser tabs I tend to have open.
Tags:
You may also like…
Tina Zwegat Receives 2025 YB Staff Award for Extraordinary Service
April 30, 2025
A devoted employee since 1987, Tina Zwegat was honored with the YB Staff Award for Extraordinary Service at the annual spring appreciation celebration for faculty and staff, held April 29 at the...
Oberlin Conservatory Community Mourns the Loss of Retired Professor Randolph Coleman
April 30, 2025
Coleman left a lasting legacy in the Conservatory, having created the two-year module program in composition that shaped how students learned for 20 years. He served as chair of the Composition...
Shirley Sikora, Night Manager of the ’Sco, Dies at 65
June 11, 2024
Longtime employee was beloved by student workers and all who frequented the Wilder Hall club.