Piano painted by Marie Elena Glynn in Spiotta Park. Photo by Luc Maynard-Parisi
Sadly, the 2nd annual Playin’ Around South Orange project — which has adorned several corners of South Orange with brilliantly painted pianos since August 23 — is coming to a close.
The pianos should start disappearing on or about Tuesday, October 6.
The pianos, placed in highly trafficked outdoor spaces, were available for the public to play at impromptu “jam sessions” and were also the center of planned programming with local musicians. On the visual side of the arts equation, the pianos were decorated by artists or teams of artists who applied to the program this past summer. This year’s piano locations and visual artists were:
BILL BILLEC
Irvington & West Fairview Avenues
LAWRENCE CIARALLO
The Gateway
MARIE ELENA GLYNN
Spiotta Park
LISA HIRKALER
Sloan Street Gazebo
ANJOLÉ KING
The Duck Pond in Cameron Park
SETON HALL UNIVERSITY PEER ADVISORS
Bishop Dougherty University Center at Seton Hall
The pianos were donated by locals like Richard and Meredith Bell, whose Gulbransen piano, painted by Lisa Hirkaler, has spent the last six weeks under the gazebo by the train station. “It looks great!,” wrote Richard Bell in an email to Village Green. The pianos have now been auctioned off to benefit SOPAC’s education programming at www.BiddingForGood.com.
SOPAC Director of Community Engagement Linda Beard said that the goal for the program was “to interrupt the humdrum day-to-day and allow people the opportunity to interact with different genres of art in a unique way.” She added, “It’s about bringing what we do inside the [SOPAC] building outside the building.”
The Playin’ Around South Orange program was sponsored by PNC Bank and hosted by South Orange Performing Arts Center, the Village of South Orange, Seton Hall University and South Orange Village Community Alliance (SOVCA).
SOPAC wishes to thank the following for their contributions to the project: Richard and Meredith Bell, Elisa Kessler Caporale, Sheena Collum, Adam Loehner, Sandy Martiny, The McCrear Family, Glenn Paulsen, Rob Sandow and Joyce Isabelle, Regina Shaddad, South Orange Division of Public Works, and Karen Van Norman.
For more information on the program visit www.sopacnow.org/community/sopianos.
Click on any image below to see a slideshow of photos of three of the pianos.
