3 minute read
Have You Heard the Music?
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By Katherine Gillen, SRVHS and Lauren Torchiana, SRVHS
Background
Lauren Torchiana and Katherine Gillen are cousins that have grown up together, and being just one year apart, have always shared similar interests and activities. Lauren is a junior and Katherine a senior at SRVHS, and they couldn’t wait to be able to better their community and bring a project that involved both music and art to their town. Both started piano lessons at the same time when they were young and shared a love for playing together. Two years ago on respective trips to Portland and San Diego during the same week, they both stumbled upon public pianos that were refurbished, painted, and placed on street corners, walking paths, public squares, or other locations with heavy foot traffic. The girls shared their discovery with each other and found this random coincidence as a sign to bring the idea of public pianos to their hometown of Danville. After they returned home they immediately formulated a plan to approach the town of Danville.
Katherine Gillen and Lauren Torchiana in front of one of their musical installations.
Bringing the Idea to Danville
Lauren and Katherine emailed representatives from the Town of Danville asking for a meeting to propose bringing public pianos to Danville, and everyone loved the idea and insisted they start right away. With the help of Jessica Wallner, Program Supervisor, Henry Perezalonso, Recreation, Arts & Community Services Director, Christian Mejia, former Performing Arts Program Coordinator, Leah Madonich, Program Supervisor for Adults and Seniors, and others, the process began in the beginning of Summer 2018. These individuals helped with acquiring the pianos to be refurbished, finding locations to work on them, and overall helping the process go smoothly.
These pianos were loved and well used by the whole community all summer long.
The Process
Lauren and Katherine secured two pianos through local donations and gathered all of the necessary supplies for the project. The girls started by prepping the pianos, through hours of sanding, prepping, and painting base coats. Next, they called in two local artists and good friends to help, Kelly Anderson (a senior at SRVHS) and Grace McClure (a junior at MVHS) to design and paint the pianos. They all worked together to brainstorm the designs, and the two artists collaborated to bring the artwork to life. The first round of pianos was completed for the summer of 2018, and then the process began again for the summer of 2019, bringing two more pianos to the streets of Danville.
Lauren, Katherine, Kelly Anderson, and Grace McClure collaborated on two new pianos for 2019, bringing the total to four pianos throughout town.
The Results
After two successful summers of public pianos in Danville, Lauren and Katherine hold great pride in this project and love to admire their work when passing by any of the pianos. The four girls, Katherine, Lauren, Kelly, and Grace, were all honored to receive the Award of Merit at the 37th Annual Mayors Installation by The Danville Town Council in December of 2018. The pianos have also been featured in multiple issues of local newspapers. This project had such a positive response from the community and it reminds the girls of how lucky they are to have the ability to share their love for art and music within their hometown.
