"It's a way to really explore the notion of where music belongs," Lawrence said.
The Hopkins Center is working in coordination with the Alliance for the Visual Arts Gallery in Lebanon to collect old pianos, recruit artists and place the pianos in public areas, according to Lawrence. "Hands on Pianos" is modeled off of street piano projects that have been implemented in many cities around the world, she said.
"Play Me, I'm Yours" is a popular project that has set up pianos decorated by local artists in 22 cities since its inception in 2008, according to the Street Piano project's website. The next group of pianos will appear in Los Angeles this April, according to the website.
Up to 50 pianos will be decorated by local artists who apply with a design in mind, according to Lawrence. Anyone is welcome to apply, and artists selected by the Hopkins Center and the AVA Gallery will be given a stipend of $120 for materials to complete the project in a warehouse near Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center throughout the spring. In July, the pianos will be placed in various locations for people to see the artists' work and try their hand at playing piano, whether they are a novice or a seasoned pianist, Lawrence said.
Organizers hope that the pianos will be a place for people to gather for a planned jam session among friends or as a spontaneous, improvised experience of collective art, according to Lawrence.
Adam Blue '93, education director of the AVA Gallery, said that he hopes the project will encourage people to expand their concept of public art. Rather than serving simply as a statue in a public place, public art can be communal and experiential, he said.
The lifespan of pianos is limited, however, so "Hands on Pianos" is seeking old and unwanted pianos to share their last bit of music, according to Blue. The Hopkins Center is offering to pick up these expired pianos from anyone in the area willing to donate them. The project is accepting applications from both professional and non-professional artists for proposals to decorate the pianos, according to Lawrence.
If the Hopkins Center achieves its goal of finding 50 pianos, it will rival "Play Me, I'm Yours" projects in major cities around the world, according to Lawrence. She hopes that the pianos will inspire spontaneous music and create a place where people can congregate to enjoy the sound and the art that the pianos themselves will become.
"We want to make music accessible," Lawrence said. "We need everybody to make this succeed."
A website dedicated to "Hands on Pianos," connected to the Hopkins Center website, will track the project and remain online as a legacy after the pianos are removed, Lawrence said. People will be able to email photos, recordings and videos of themselves using the pianos, which will be posted to the website and connected to a map showing each piano's location. The map will allow people to seek out pianos and offer information on each particular piano's history how and where it was used and who its previous owners were according to Lawrence.
Organizers from the Hopkins Center and the AVA Gallery are also discussing other ideas, such as designing pianos for beginners, according to Lawrence. A piano might have color-coded keys and instructions so that even people with no musical knowledge could sit down and play a song, she said. Organizers have also talked about the possibility of a tuning demonstration by Dartmouth's piano technician Crystal Fielding, according to Lawrence.
Piano "angels" will be recruited to look after the pianos, ensuring they are protected from vandalism and from bad weather with a tarp, Lawrence said. Each angel will be assigned a piano to watch over, according to Lawrence. She said she hopes that this will be an easy way for students to get further involved in the project.
Although most pianos will be outside, any place offering a public piano may join the project, she said. Hanover Terrace, the AVA Gallery and the nearby Veterans Affairs Hospital have pianos that will be part of "Hands on Pianos," according to Lawrence.
On campus, she said she envisions pianos in places such as the Green, Collis Cafe, the swimming docks and other locations on campus to offer an artistic respite during the hot summer months. Lawrence said that a piano might even be placed near the Ledyard Bridge maybe sophomores will be able enhance their Ledyard Challenge pursuits with a musical intermission?
At the end of the project, the Hopkins Center and the AVA Gallery will recycle salvageable parts of the pianos before discarding them. The deadline for submissions to decorate a piano is Feb. 20, and applications can be found on the Hopkins Center website.
