Painting Pianos on the Street in New Westminster
One of the most exciting aspects of Pianos on the Street has been the collaborations that have occurred with so many different groups throughout the Lower Mainland. These pianos have allowed the Piano Teachers Federation to work with not only numerous cities at the municipal level, but also with community groups.
For almost all of our Pianos on the Street we have found community groups to paint and decorate each one in a unique way (to find out more about the community groups that have painted our pianos, go to www.supportpiano.com and select the ‘Pianos’ tab in the top right hand corner).
One of the most emotional processes of this entire project has been collaboration with the Community Living Society, a not-for-profit organization based in New Westminster that provides support to individuals with developmental disabilities.
Founder of the Piano Teachers Federation and President of Pacey’s Pianos, Sean Pacey, has a unique personal connection to CLS- his uncle is a local artist who is also a member of the organization. When Sean contacted the Artistic Facilitator for Pottery Works, Deidre Blackmore (Pottery Works is an artistic studio supported through CLS), he was met with enthusiasm and excitement. Both Sean and Deidre were excited to see a collaboration take place between Pianos on the Street and the Community Living Society.
Although Sean had a personal connection through his uncle, who as previously mentioned is an artist, he informed Deidre that she could select whomever she wanted for the painting of the piano.
To say that Sean was blown away when he discovered that his uncle, Mark Pacey, was chosen, along with Leslie Fehr, to be one of the artists is an understatement.
According to Sean, “I was so proud of my uncle knowing that he was one of the artists chosen and that because of our efforts in placing a piano there he was able to partake in the project. There’s a particular photo of me watching my uncle paint the piano and I have what I think is probably the biggest smile in the world on my face.”
The final results speak for themselves. Mark and Leslie painted a beautiful nature theme on the piano to tie into the boardwalk atmosphere surrounding the piano. While summer may be over, the blooms on our piano at River Market Quay live on thanks to these two artists and the Community Living Society.