If you’re a visual artist seeking a unique challenge, the Fredonia Street Piano Project wants to hear from you.
Fredonia Street Piano Project, whose goal is to place artist-designed pianos in outdoor public spaces on the Fredonia campus and in the village of Fredonia and city of Dunkirk for anyone to play, is currently accepting proposals from visual artists to create one-of-a-kind piano artwork.
Three street pianos have been completed to date and are placed on campus in front of Mason Hall, in Barker Commons in Fredonia and on the Boardwalk in Dunkirk. Street piano projects can be traced to “Play Me, I’m Yours,” an art display of 15 pianos in Birmingham, England, in 2008.
Marc Levy, facilities manager in Mason Hall in the School of Music, was intrigued by a decorated street piano he saw in Montreal several years ago. “Someone was actually playing on it; that’s where the inspiration came from, that we could do that at Fredonia and the surrounding area,” Mr. Levy said. Street pianos are also huge in New York City, he added.
“The main thing about (the) pianos is that they become live art, where these pianos will actually be playable. We encourage members of the community to play these pianos,” Levy explained. “For me, it’s the creativity of the artist, bringing the piano to life. I want them to bring their own inspiration to the piano. Designs and artwork will be different for every single instrument.”
Fredonia Street Piano Project will furnish upright pianos, as well as acrylic paints in a variety of colors, primer, drop cloths, sanding blocks, painters tape and a limited supply of basic brushes, all for communal use. Artwork on the pianos will be completed in a campus studio or gallery.
The pianos, Levy explained, no longer meet the needs for piano and music majors in the School of Music and are being replaced with new upright pianos.
Applications from visual artists will be evaluated by an independent panel of adjudicators, using quality, creativity, diversity, practicality and accessibility of the work as criteria. A rendering of the proposed artwork is to be included in the application. There is no entry fee.
The goal is to have up to the upright pianos on display from approximately May 1 through Oct. 15.
The Fredonia Street Piano Project is sponsored by Big L Windows & Doors through the Fredonia College Foundation, with additional support from the village of Fredonia, city of Dunkirk and Fredonia’s School of Music and departments of Visual Arts and New Media, and Theatre and Dance.
Students, faculty and staff of Fredonia and community members are invited to submit an application. The deadline is Monday, Nov. 6.
For more information and the application, visit online
