Last year the city of Des Moines, IA did a fun experiment. Two pianos were placed outside in public areas for anyone to use and it was met with a fair amount of success. One piano was vandalized eventually and had to be removed earlier than planned, but the nonprofit City Sounds plans on placing 8 public pianos painted by local artists in the city from May 15 until October 15.
“I’m really pleased with the first year and the success.” Councilwoman Chris Hensely said about the project. “They’ve got a lot of support, and they’ve got a lot of money that’s already come in for this next cycle.”
The council is currently in discussion to put the pianos in public walkways so they will be even more accessible and visible to the citizens. The pianos will be bolted to the ground and nearby business partaking in the project will help care for them.
It’s just another way that music is being made more available to everyone and how people respond so warmly to music. Hopefully, projects like this will spread to other cities.
Leave some comments below about whether you’d want this project in your city and make sure you check out our new cover story on Jason Mraz. Also enter our contest for a chance to win a free guitar!
