 "Photo: Jameshia Jefferson")
Decorative street piano’s have been appearing all around the world for years and now the piano’s have made their way to historic Ybor City. Ten decorated pianos have been placed throughout the Ybor area in hopes to be played and admired by the public, free of charge.
The GaYBOR District Coalition and Gallery Live in Ybor now sponsor what is usually an annual event in the country of France. Local Tampa artists have elaborately decorated the pianos.
“Please Play Me is a creative interactive public art exhibit where you, the public, get to play the piano’s,” said Carrie West, president of GaYBOR District Coalition.
The pianos hit the streets on Nov. 14 and were immediately heard along the streets of Ybor. Many people stopped to play, curious to see if the pianos actually worked.
“The pianos are a little out of tune but still fun to play,” said Sean McNamara, 49, who grew up playing the piano.
These used pianos were bought locally and turned into artistic masterpieces. Mathieu Stanoch, owner and executive director of Gallery Live, is among one of the talented artists to decorate the pianos. Tampa local Lisa Kasten was admiring the piano’s artwork the Saturday the pianos went on display.
“Who knew old pianos could be this beautiful?” said Kasten
With today’s hard economy and the holidays quickly approaching, the members of GaYBOR say the pianos are just a little “cheerer-upper” to get people into the spirit.
“If you just sit back and listen to the pianos being played, a sense of comfort and ease replaces the stress of everyday life,” claims Mike Diez, a proud member of GaYBOR.
The artwork had to be placed under covering to be protected from the Florida weather, and bolted to the ground to prevent theft. They are left on the streets unattended 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“We are leaving it up to the public to help protect these pianos from vandalism,” said Vince Pardo from the Ybor City Development Corporation.
It doesn’t take long to find one of the decorated pianos along Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Avenues. At every piano, there are maps available to ensure that all ten pianos are played and admired. GaYBOR has set up this exhibit similar to that of a scavenger hunt, in that he maps give vague coordinates of each piano to make the hunt more interactive.
Some of the locations of the pianos include the HCC-Ybor campus on Ninth Avenue and 15th Street, The Ritz Ybor on Seventh Avenue and 15th Street and Gameworks on Eighth Avenue and 17th Street.
According to Diez, there is talk about hooking up the pianos to a device that will play them automatically; music can be heard all hours of the day, even when the public is not playing the artwork.
This musical art exhibit will be on the streets until Jan. 9. The pianos will then be auctioned off for charity.
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