The busy 1300-block of Johnston Road in White Rock has a new place-making amenity – and it didn’t cost the city a thing.
A nomadic piano, which had seemingly been inching its way down the back alley behind stores on the west side of the street, recently found a new home in the block’s visual arts haven, Nomad Gallery.
Nomad owner Jenny Evans said she and friend and business neighbour Ernie Klassen (of florists Ashberry and Logan, and also city councillor) have been enjoying sharing the joy of music by having the piano free for use by passersby on the sidewalk outside their businesses in sunny, and even not-so-sunny, weather.
Evans and Klassen say they have found the blond-finish Lowrey low-height upright piano to be an irresistible magnet for those with a yen to dabble on the keys, whether former or current students, past professionals or children captivated by simply picking out random notes or basic tunes.
Klassen (who admits to being a lapsed pianist himself: “I can just about play Somewhere Over The Rainbow – but I haven’t really played in 20 years”) commended Evans’ enterprise in rescuing the piano, evidently abandoned by an unknown owner.
“The guys at Tapestry Music say it’s a good piano – it’s been well looked after, and it’s in relatively good tune.”
“Every day there are about 10 to 15 people who stop by it,” he added.
“Everybody’s stopping and talking to each other – even people who don’t know each other. It’s just the sort of thing we need to have in this city.”
Open-use pianos have proven a successful way of building community in countless locations around the world, of course, but offering one locally was not something Evans intended, she said – she doesn’t even play piano herself.
But an arts-friendly upbringing (“My background is in dance and my dad was on the board of Ballet B.C. at one time”) meant the piano ‘spoke’ to her as soon as she saw it.
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Eyeing it as soon as it made its appearance at the north end of the alley a couple of weeks ago, she watched from a distance.
“It seemed to be getting closer every day,” she laughed, adding that she was expecting the owner, or some other interested party, to claim it.
When that didn’t happen – and fearing what prolonged exposure to the elements might do to it – Evans enlisted the help of family to move it.
“I called my dad, and he and my son came with a couple of dollies, and carefully lifted it, moved it from the alley, around the corner, onto the sidewalk and down to the front entrance of the gallery,” she said.
“We saved it. Had it just been left outside, it would have been trashed.”
The piano now rests comfortably in the gallery overnight, just waiting for weather decent enough to bring it out on the sidewalk each day.
Evans said she has done little to the piano except replace the original tiny wheels with larger, more sturdy, sidewalk-appropriate versions.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” she said, adding she has been posting photos of spontaneous music makers on Instagram with the hashtag #nomadpiano.
“It seems to be bringing joy to a lot of people. Kids stop and play it on the way home from school, and other people who haven’t played for years are dusting off their skills.”
As an example of the kind of exchanges the piano creates, she notes that International Artist Day founder Chris MacClure and his wife Marilyn Hurst stopped by with a friend the other day, the well-known artist Harley Brown, who is also a musician.
“He’s just moved to the area and I got to meet him – and that all happened because he stopped to play the piano outside.”
Evans said, for her, the piano adds another dimension to what she already feels is a highly creative south Johnston Road neighborhood.
“We’ve got so much going on here – there’s a new gallery opening on the corner, there’s us and there’s White Rock Gallery further down the hill. We’ve got neat cafes and restaurants, we’ve got the Blue Frog Studios live venue and Tapestry Music and a lot more.
“This is, basically, the coolest block in White Rock,” she said.
