Color keys: Artists collaborate on painted piano project

This spring, eight aging upright pianos are getting a second life in Acton.

Painted by local and regional artists and placed throughout Acton, the instruments are part of “Pianos on the Town,” a monthlong public art and music installation organized by the Acton Conservatory of Music as part of its 20th anniversary celebration.

The project launched May 30 with a “Piano Xtravaganza” at Brookside Square, where more than 40 students and faculty members will perform before the pianos are set up in locations around town through June 26.

“Pianos are instruments that used to be in everybody’s home,” said Kate Yoder, founder and executive director of the conservatory. She said she hopes the painted pianos recreate some of that “familiarity and accessibility.”

The instruments will be placed at sites including the Acton Museum, The Umbrella Arts Center, the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail bridge, the Hunt Recreation Center, and outside Middlesex Savings Bank near the visitor center.

“We wanted to take CCM out of our building and into the community,” Yoder said. 

Throughout June, the conservatory also plans to host pop-up performances at the installations.

“I hope that people see how much music can be embedded within our community and that music is part of our lives every day,” Yoder said.

‘Play it twice’

The project began after Yoder saw a similar installation in Minneapolis and wondered whether Acton could create its own version. The conservatory issued a public call for artists earlier this year, selecting eight designs from 17 submissions.

Since April, the artists have worked out of a garage studio space at the conservatory’s CCM2 building in West Acton, transforming the donated upright pianos into playable public artworks.

For artist Jamie Palmer Keating, who lives in West Acton, the project combined several passions. She said it’s visual art, music, and community involvement all mixed together. 

“I’m just like, ‘Oh, this is my jam. I love music, and I don’t know how to play a piano, but I can paint one,’” Keating said.

Keating’s piano painting features a bright teal background covered in tulip patterns alongside the phrase: “If it’s nice, play it twice.”

She said she was inspired by springtime runs through West Acton and the flowers she passes around town, and she wanted the piano to feel joyful and inviting.

“I’m always trying to spread joy,” she said. “Hopefully it encourages people to sit down at the piano and really go for it and have a good time.”

‘Let the music flow’ 

Artist Steve Bermundo took a different visual approach, covering his piano in bright, flowing waves inspired by sound and movement.

“I was like, ‘Wait a minute, this is like sound waves,’” Bermundo said, recounting how he came up with the idea. 

The piece also incorporates hidden details and phrases, including “Let the music flow” and a subtle reference to the conservatory’s 20th anniversary.

Bermundo, who said he is colorblind, intentionally leaned into highly saturated colors and bold contrasts to make the piano immediately eye-catching.

“I kind of wanted mine to be clear,” he said. “If you’re looking at it from a car and you’re just driving by it, it would be clear right away.”

Bermundo and Keating said the collaborative studio environment became one of the most rewarding aspects of the experience.

“We’ve been spending literally hours every day,” he said. “We’re sharing ideas and then just talking. Getting to know each other was really nice.”

‘Feeling of music’

Yoder said watching the artists work side by side has been one of the highlights of the project for her, too.

“They’re in the space where they’re sharing paint and getting to spend that time together as they create,” she said.

The conservatory hopes the installation reflects how CCM has evolved over the past two decades from a small lesson program into a broader community music center serving more than 500 students of all ages each week.

Yoder likes the idea that music will spill beyond the conservatory’s walls and into everyday life around town.

“When the windows are open at CCM, you can hear the music coming out of our building. It’s one of my favorite things about going there,” she said. “Now everyone will be able to experience that feeling of music out in the town.”