Laura had a meeting in Denver, and as long as someone else was paying for a nice hotel room, we decided to take advantage of it. So despite having been in Florida last weekend, and Washington State the weekend before that, I decided to fly out and join here.
I met up with Laura just after lunch Mountain Time, so we decided to go in search of a sandwich. She led me down to the 16th Street Mall to a great little place she found. Afterwards we strolled along the mall.
It was here I found the pianos. Strategically placed along the mall are seventeen pianos placed by the Downtown Denver Partnership. Each upright piano has been hand-painted by a local artist, and passersby can play them anytime.
The pianos are in various states of repair. All that I played had keys either broken or sticking. One was missing keys all together. It’s not surprising. These sit out in the weather all the time. The ones that were in better shape had street performers pretty much camped out on them with tip jars.
Even so, I was able to bang out a bit of Scott Joplin, Summertime from Porgy and Bessie, and a bit of random blues. I attracted a few onlookers.
After playing one of the pianos a guy came up and said that one of his friends had painted that particular piano. He said that the pianos come out in the summer when they don’t usually have rain. However, this summer was weird. Later we found that the pianos were covered for the evening to provide some level of protection.
Regardless of the pianos’ conditions, I think it was a cool addition to an already cool city. Too bad we’re only here for a weekend.
I love the pianos in Denver. What a way to have interactive art!