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A shimmering installation inside Hearts for Hearing’s new glass tower now marks patient milestones with light and music, turning private clinical moments into visible celebrations for the community. The piece also serves as a public reminder of hearing health, visible to drivers on Lake Hefner Parkway and tied to an expanded facility that increases access to care across Oklahoma.
Art as a marker of progress
Suspended in the facility’s lobby, the 42-foot sculpture is made from 26 circular elements arranged to trace the waveform of the phrase “Celebration of Sound.” When a patient reaches a milestone—most commonly the activation or programming of hearing technology—the work illuminates and plays a short musical motif.
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The first lighting occurred on March 3; through Oct. 8 the organization counted 128 such commemorations. The display is visible from the parkway, where Hearts for Hearing officials say the tower passes by roughly 100,000 vehicles each day, offering an exterior glimpse of the work taking place inside.
From clinic appointments to shared moments
For many people who receive cochlear implants or other hearing devices, activation day is a pivotal step. Rather than remaining a private appointment, activations are now often followed by a small gathering beneath the sculpture—staff, families and patients share refreshments while the piece lights up, accompanied by a jingle written by Grammy-winning composer Patty Drummond.
The effect is both symbolic and practical: it creates a communal ritual that recognizes individual progress and gives families a public way to acknowledge a medical milestone.
- Installation size: 42-foot sculpture inside a 47-foot glass tower
- Design: 26 discs representing the spoken waveform of “Celebration of Sound”
- Celebrations held: 128 (through Oct. 8)
- Facility expansion: 30,800 square feet added to the Oklahoma City campus
- Daily visibility: An estimated 100,000 vehicles pass the site
Growing capacity and statewide reach
Hearts for Hearing began in 2003 with a narrow focus on helping children obtain hearing aids and has since evolved into a broad hearing-health provider. Last year the organization reported serving about 50,000 Oklahomans, offering audiology, speech-language services and technology support.
The new addition to the Oklahoma City campus — part of the organization’s Celebration of Sound expansion and partially funded through American Rescue Plan Act dollars — brings extra clinical space and research capacity. Hearts for Hearing operates sites in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Norman, and runs a mobile clinic to reach patients across the state.
One longstanding program provides first hearing aids at no cost to infants born deaf, aiming to support language development during the earliest months and years.
Knowing your hearing baseline
Alongside the visual and celebratory elements, the organization is promoting hearing awareness through its Know Your Hearing Number initiative. The concept is straightforward: each ear receives a number that represents the softest speech sounds a person can detect. Higher figures indicate greater difficulty hearing speech, especially in noisy settings.
Clinically, that metric corresponds to the four-frequency pure tone average, a standard measure audiologists use to gauge hearing ability. Hearts for Hearing says the screening takes roughly five to seven minutes and provides a baseline for tracking changes in hearing over time or deciding when further evaluation is needed.
The sculpture and the outreach program work together: one draws attention and celebrates individual successes, the other encourages Oklahomans to take a simple, measurable step toward understanding their hearing health.
With each new lighting ceremony, the installation adds another public chapter to the stories of patients and families served by Hearts for Hearing—making clinical advances more visible and inviting a broader conversation about hearing care across the state.
