If you’re a business or organization, help by hosting or sponsoring a piano.
If you want to contribute creatively, apply to be one of our artists.
This summer, St. Paul’s newest and hottest music venue will be its’ sidewalks. The music isn’t coming from a speaker, though-- it’s coming from your neighbor, a stranger, your friend playing an artistically transformed piano in a public space. During June and July, St. Paul will play host to Pianos on Parade — twenty pianos, each transformed by a local artist, and all available for the public to play and enjoy. Whether on a street corner or in a favorite park, a piano will spur St. Paul’s residents and visitors to spontaneously engage with art, music, and one another, creating moments of community and highlighting the city’s exceptional commitment to music and arts.
Pianos on Parade is a project by Keys 4/4 Kids as part of their mission to inspire young people to believe in themselves through the arts. Keys 4/4 Kids accepts pianos as donations, refurbishes them, and then resells them, with all proceeds benefitting music and arts education.
Pianos on Parade is a joint collaboration between Keys 4/4 Kids, a local nonprofit organization, and the office of St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman. Together, the City of St. Paul, Keys 4/4 Kids, community and business sponsors will showcase the work of local artists and musicians and will coordinate events around these pianos that will optimize their presence throughout the city.
Already, local organizations are rallying around this project to make it a success. Marcus Young of Public Arts St. Paul is acting as artistic advisor; the American Composers Forum will help create programming around the pianos throughout the duration of their stay on the streets.
From our experience as the official charitable focus of last year’s Uptown Art Fair, we learned one very valuable lesson: if a piano is available, someone will sit down and play. And, if someone is playing a piano, a crowd will gather to watch and listen. Similar projects have taken place in such major cities as London, New York, and Denver with huge success.
Many have been the work of artist Luke Jerrum, and while he has greatly inspired us, our project will be unique to the specific culture and community of St. Paul.
In order to organize a project of this size in the city of St. Paul that will best reach all of its citizens, Keys 4/4 Kids needs your help. Please consider being a sponsor of Pianos on Parade. As a sponsor, you would help to create a web of shared interactions centered on music and art. Should you choose to host a Pianos on Parade piano, these moments could occur right outside your building. From our experience as the official charitable focus at last year’s Uptown Art Fair, we learned one very valuable lesson: if a piano is available, someone will sit down and play. And, if someone is playing a piano, a crowd will gather to watch and listen.
Please consider sponsoring Pianos on Parade, and being a part of St. Paul’s biggest and longest-running citywide music and arts event ever.
Kelsey Shanesy, Project Manager
keys44kids@gmail.com or 651-698-3280.
Your piano will be delivered the first weekend in June. The time of delivery will be determined based on your designated contact’s availability. The piano will remain on site until the end of July. It will be picked-up on either Saturday, July 30th or Sunday, July 31st. Depending on the sponship level of each particular piano, the piano will then be delivered either to a donation location, returned to the Keys 4/4 Kids facilities, or remain at your site in a year-round location.
The piano will be available for public use 24/7 for the duration of the project. However, signage on the piano will encourage people to only play the piano between the hours of 9:00am and 10:00pm. From other cities who have done a street pianos project, we have learned that in the vast majority of cases, the public adopts and respects the piano and those who live near the piano. However, should use of the piano become an issue, or should vandalism occur, Keys 4/4 Kids and her sister company, Econo Piano Move, is prepared to move or remove the piano.
If your location has been selected by Keys 4/4 Kids to host a piano this opportunity is FREE. If you or your business is interested in becoming a sponsor of the piano, there are opportunities starting at $500 with full sponsorship opportunity costing $3,000. Please contact us for further sponsorship details.
Piano dimensions vary from piano to piano, but on average pianos are about 52” tall X 58” wide X 24” deep. They will most likely be secured on site using cement blocks, so plan for another 12” on one side of the piano. For optimal protection from the elements, we would prefer that these pianos be placed against the wall of your building. If there is an overhang on your building, we would prefer the piano to be placed beneath it. The piano will also include a bench (chained to the piano), which adds another 14” of depth (on average).
The piano will arrive to the site tuned. A technician will visit once, near the end of June or beginning of July, to tune it a second time. Keys 4/4 Kids does not plan on performing other maintenance on the piano. The sound board of the piano will be protected from the elements by a plastic covering.
As part of the Pianos on Parade project, we ask that hosts keep an eye on the piano. This means checking on the piano periodically for damage or abuse. This also means contacting Keys 4/4 Kids should any issues arise. Keys 4/4 Kids and Econo Piano Move also asks that you designate one person to act as a contact for the pick-up and delivery of the piano.
Keys 4/4 Kids does not anticipate the Pianos on Parade pianos to be a threat to public safety, and has permission from St. Paul Right-of-Way to place a piano on the sidewalk. However, should the piano become a threat to public safety for any reason, Econo Piano Move is prepared to remove the piano.
Kelsey Shanesy, Keys 4/4 Kids Site Manager
keys44kids@gmail.com or 651-698-3280.
"Look to the Legends"
I enjoy painting people, musicians especially. The concept that I tried to communicate with my piano is that history is important, understanding it is important, letting it affect you is important and remembering that whenever you play, you not only play that history you become a part of that history too. Please check out some of my other work at my website: www.emchez.com
"Play Me And I'll Sing For You"
"The Jazz Masters Dojo"
Jesse Golfis lives through his art. It provides him with the space to be the version of himself he'd most like to see - the meditative, focused, energetic, driven, inspired, talented person that he is. His latest work involves a foray into classic pop art via his Icon Series, in which Jesse maintains his vibrant approach to color, while depicting icons from various walks of life. The series has garnered widespread acclaim, further proving that this artist is as malleable as he wants to be; he's not tied to any specific mode, and is willing to push himself into to new creative spaces. His intention to always seek the next important bit of inspiration is what sets Jesse Andrew Golfis apart from other people.
"Keycycle"
My paintings are representational but often have an added level of meaning. I seek unique possibilities for joining common subjects and materials. "Bicycle Races" by Queen is the subject of my Pianos on Parade project. Both bicycles and pianos are machines that can take one for a ride, either on a physical or spiritual dimension.
"Price & Teeple 52910, Prepared"
This project was informed by my piano (its history, its shape and tone, what i found inside it) and by John Cage's work with prepared pianos. I wanted to draw attention to how wonderful and unlikely pianos are, and to engage people with their inner workings and secret lives. I also wanted to change the experience people have playing pianos, to add new timbres and options, so that people can experience these amazing machines anew.
"Song birds"
Kimberly was born in San Diego, CA 1982 and now lives and works out of Minneapolis. She specializes in wood carving, with inspirations from folk art, Japanese block carving, and graffiti. She has a strong following, with celebrity clients such as singer/song writer Bruno Mars buying her carvings.
"Moon River"
Lorry Spiegel and Denise Tennen share a love for making things. Creating our Moon River piano, based on the song by the same title, was a chance to have fun collaborating and contribute our strengths: Lorry's ease with generating ideas and painting, Denise's architectural orientation to public art and context, and having the ideas "fit" the piano. In our separate lives Lorry paints landscapes and figures, incorporating color for mood and emotion as well as sculpting people and animals in clay. Denise creates sculptural installations as well as leading community participants in the creation of art installations.
"Play To Pray"
Making a crochet doily is like meditation because one just concentrates on creating stitches and leaves everything else behind. A doily pattern also looks similar to a rose window that is found in a church. Therefore I feel something spiritual in a doily pattern. I created this piano for the people in Japan who are suffering right now having lost their loved ones, houses, fortune, memories and everything. Please play this piano to encourage the people and give hope, as well as to give prayer to the people who lost their lives due to the disaster. www.mnartists.org/Mayumi_Amada
"The Wind"
Molly McLain is a native of rural North Dakota, currently living in Minneapolis. She draws inspiration for her work through a strong connection to the prairie and environmental awareness. "For the piano I wanted to take Cat Steven's 'The Wind' and share my vision for the world at large with the viewer. As a piano teacher, and songwriter, I plan to hold outdoor concerts with students and friends throughout the summer. Thank you Keys for Kids; what a wonderful project to share with the city!"
"Strawberry"
Newell Hill is the founder and executive director of Keys 4/4 Kids. Although having some of his art displayed in galleries in the Twin Cities and Chicago many years ago, he does not consider himself a “real” artist. None the less, he still had inspiration to decorate a piano for Pianos on Parade! A fan of the Beatles, he chose the song “Strawberry Fields Forever.” The top of the piano is a mural of mirror and colored glass. The sides of the piano are decorated with pieces of mirror to create the illusion of strawberry seeds. Zen1 helped to spray paint the piano and create a beautiful fade from pink to red. The bench of the piano is the stem of the “strawberry.”
"Chopsticks"
When I first learned about this collaboration between local artists, Keys 4/4 Kids, musicians and the community, my immediate idea was to incorporate chopsticks in the design on the piano. As an art teacher at St. Paul Academy and Summit School and also a painter, I knew I would enjoy coming up with a playful design that would involve adhering various handmade papers, original paintings and chopsticks to the piano. Color, texture, line and design are all elements that I thought about and implemented in the overall transformation of the upright piano. When I think of young and old people approaching the piano when it is displayed out in the community for the months of June and July, they might play "chopsticks" just for fun and to see how it sounds on this piano! It is my hope that all will enjoy looking at the piano and will feel comfortable playing a simple song such as "chopsticks" when they see chopsticks glued onto the surface! www.pattypaulus.com
"Variation on a Theme"
In my art I try to make connections with objects and spaces around me. Fibrous materials allow me to make these connections visible.
In order to engage this piano artistically, I reflected on the instrument as a framework for holding strings under tension. Inspired by the orderly mechanism of strings and pegs within the piano, I set out make my own string arrangement on unexplored regions of the piano. By devising a complex and rambling string composition on the outside of the instrument, I hope to hint at the infinitely subtle colors and shades of sound created within.
"The Piano"
As a visual artist I find inspiration in many places and in many ways. One example is through music, it brings me happiness and envokes memories, this is evident in all of my work!
"My Life in a Can"
My work embodies my desire and drive to take the negative connations out of "graffiti". My pieces focus on my constant hopefulness that one day aerosol art will be recognized as a true art movement like those that have changed the world. My hope is that one day I will be acknowledged for the positivity of my graffitti whether its on the walls of galleries, museums, other organizations, businesses or even on public works, community works or mass transit. These expectations keep me grounded but still reaching for the stars.
 Fitzgerald TheaterPhil Vandervaart |
 OrdwayJoy Liberman |
 Linden HillsRenee Larson |
 Keys 4/4 KidsNewell Hill |
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 McNally SmithJesse Golfis |
 Parque CastilloStudents of St. Paul Public Schools Community Education |
 State CaptiolRandy Walker |
 Black Dog CaféZen One |
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 Andy's Mechanic ShopParticipants of Grand Old Day |
 Ford Parkway & ClevelandKimberly dubois |
 Peter J King Family Health CenterKate Saturday |
 Como ParkPatty Paulus |
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 MSP AirportJesse Golfis |
 Mears ParkMolly McLain |
 TravelersStudents of Northwest Youth and Family Services |
 Crowne PlazaEmily Chesley |
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 Walker WestStudents of St. Paul Public Schools Community Education |
 RiverCentreDenise and Lorry |
Park Square TheaterNewell Hill |
 Landmark CenterMayumi Amada |
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"Promenade of pianos in St. Paul" (Twin Cities Daily Planet)
"Pianos on parade at Grand Old Day" (Pioneer Press)
"'Pianos on Parade' in St. Paul" (5 Eyewitness News KSTP)
"Pianos on Parade in Grand Old Day" (5 Eyewitness News KSTP)
"Piano as public art in Linden Hills" (Southwest Journal)
"'Pianos on Parade' lends music, quirkiness to streets" (MPR)
Kelsey Shanesy
Project Manager
Keys 4/4 Kids Site Manager
1326b Grand Ave.
St.Paul, MN. 55105
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