Sarasota Keys announces kickoff event

A collection of publicly playable pianos will be formally unveiled on Friday, Jan. 17 during an event in Five Points Park.

The Sarasota Keys project, launched by the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County, will place six pianos on public property throughout downtown, available for the public to play. Local artists will decorate the pianos, and local businesses will sponsor and store them.

During the unveiling ceremony, scheduled for 5 p.m., all six pianos will be placed in Five Points Park. A pianist will be placed at each of the pianos — including Rich Ridenour, who brought a similar project to Jacksonville. After a few songs are played, the pianos will then be rolled to locations where they will be stationed through the end of May, according to Arts and Cultural Alliance Executive Director Jim Shirley.

The host locations for the pianos are:

• Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave.
• Main Street Traders, 1468 Main St.
• Louies Modern, 1289 N. Palm Ave.
• Mattison’s City Grille, 1 N. Lemon Ave.
• Bohemian Bliss Boutique, 1544 Main St.
• DiFilippo Kent Gallery/Showroom, 79 S. Palm Ave.

During non-business hours, the pianos will be stored inside of their host locations. Although the pianos won’t be formally available at these locations until the next day, Shirley said he believes they will be open to play if business hours allow.

“Each of the hosts will probably have a reception, or it'll be available on the street for people to play that night until the businesses close,” Shirley said.

In addition to the pianists, the artists that decorated the pianos and the sponsoring businesses that helped fund them will be present at the event, as well.

“We're going to present the pianos to the city, and recognize people that helped make it happen,” Shirley said.

Contact David Conway at [email protected].