Play Me, I'm Yours! piano project comes to Cedar Lee

Heights Arts volunteers help move the piano donated by Faith and Brendan Gill of Cleveland Heights. Photo by Greg Donley.

Make music in the Cedar Lee minipark!

Heights Arts will participate in "Play Me, I’m Yours," an international street piano project made possible locally by a collaboration between the Cleveland International Piano Competition and Case Western Reserve University (CWRU). More than 20 pianos will be placed at a variety of cultural institutions in Cleveland, the majority in University Circle.  

Before Rachel Bernstein was hired as the new executive director of Heights Arts, she had heard about the project and immediately identified it as perfect for the arts organization, given its rich history of bringing multi-disciplinary art projects to the community.

“This project embodies Heights Arts’ mission and vision perfectly,” Bernstein said. “It unites the visual arts with the musical arts into an appealing piece of public art that invites everyone to participate. Even the story of how we got the piano—by posting a request on a neighborhood Listserv and recruiting board members to move it on a rainy day—reflects the collaborative, enthusiastic and creative nature of our unique organization and community.”

The piano, currently being painted by artist Andrea Joki and Heights Arts staff, is named Close Encounters, after Heights Arts’ popular chamber music series. The piano will make its debut in the minipark outside of the Heights Arts gallery on July 18, 7–8:30 p.m. The kickoff party to launch the "Play Me, I’m Yours Cleveland" experience will take place at 11 a.m. on July 18 at Toby’s Plaza at CWRU Uptown.

For information, call 216-371-3457, visit www.heightsarts.org or drop by the Heights Arts gallery at 2175 Lee Road.