From the Ground Up 2014 - Piano art in outdoor spaces

Wave Form - braided grass
by  Sarah Kavage and Adria Garcia

Cats may have nine lives, but some pianos have at least three. All four From the Ground Up temporary installations are now in place: on the knoll at Cromwell Park, in the trees at Boeing Creek Park, in the grass at Saltwater Park and in the courtyard at City Hall. Two are using parts from no longer usable Piano Time instruments, and one, an entire piano.

Artist Heather Washburn has installed three Pia’ Trees, created almost entirely from piano strings and keys, on the Cromwell Park Knoll. Take a walk up next time you’re in that park.  Some branches of the Pia’ Trees move in the breeze and if you look closely you may find blossoms and birds nestled in the limbs.

Just inside the entrance to Boeing Creek Park on NW 175th St look for the Jeweled Arbor created by artist Jennifer Lawrence Bennett. Bennett, who normally weaves small metal jewelry, also used piano strings in these large woven pieces. The third project was created in the grass below the sundial at Richmond Beach Saltwater Park. Sarah Kavage and Adria Garcia braided the tops of some tall grass into patterns they titled Wave Form. 

Nature's Song by Briar Bates
includes a key-activated water drip wall

Finally, an entire piano was installed in the courtyard at City Hall. Planted by artist Briar Bates, Nature’s Song includes a key-activated water drip wall. So while not musically in tune, this art piece allows the instrument to live on as an interactive garden.

From the Ground Up places environmental and/or recycled artworks in various locations around Shoreline for up to three months. Instead of adding the musically unusable pianos to landfill, they were offered as materials for From the Ground Up sculptures as long as the artists displayed them in Shoreline’s outdoor “gallery”. These projects are funded through the City’s 1% for Public Art program. Artists were selected through a competitive process.

For more information about this project or other art happenings in Shoreline contact Ros Bird, Public Art Coordinator, or visit the webpage.