Some time ago, on behalf of the Rye Jazz & Blues festival, Rye News kindly ran a wanted ad with a quest to find five upright pianos. Thankfully, due to the generosity of their readers, the pianos were secured and kindly collected, free of charge and delivered safely courtesy of Bournes removals, to Rye College.
Lauren Loveless, Head of Arts at Rye College, set about the task of getting them ready to be painted and after rounding up her band of willing volunteers the process started.
The pianos first had to be prepared ready for priming, then they had their base coats added (pictured above). The students from year 9 did a lesson on jazz and blues this week and have been given homework to design a piano. The competition winners will be selected and they will then paint their winning designs on their respective pianos.
More photos and an update on this journey will be published in due course but the objective is to use the finished pianos as part of the Jazz and Blues Festival over the bank holiday weekend in August where they will be strategically positioned around the town for everyone to enjoy and demonstrate their prowess!
You never know who might be attending this year’s festival, there may well be a surprise guest pianist appearing, who knows, watch this space.
A special thank you goes out to Lauren and her students. I know the finished results are eagerly awaited and its great to engage with our local students without whom this wouldn’t happen. If any reader has suggestions as to what should be done with the pianos after the festival, let us know at info@ryenews.org.uk
Image Credits: Lauren Loveless , Nick Forman .