Painted Pianos Public Art

The Village of Niles worked with Maine East High School to save twelve pianos from going into the garbage by turning them into works of art. Pianos had lived a long life at the high school (some were from Maine North High School which closed in 1981) but after decades of playing, they were no longer fit for instrumental use.  Pianos were painted outside of the Niles Historical Society at 8970 N. Milwaukee Avenue on Saturday, September 17, 2022 as a Paint a Piano Party.  Some were painted by school groups including Clarence E. Culver School, Maine East High School, and Northridge Prep, others were done by individual artists. The pianos will stay out at the Historical Society through November and then will be placed in permanent locations around town for residents and visitors to enjoy. If you see a piano, not only admire it, play a tune! 

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Winter

Artist: Inspired to Believe Artworks by Patricia Cobo

Inspiration: Inspired by nature, I try to bring out the beauty of what we could feel when looking at nature, in an abstract way.

www.PatriciaCobo.com 

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Fall

Artist: Carly Derec

Inspiration: The colors and shapes used on this design mimic nature and the changes of Summer into Fall.

instagram.com/carly_creates_art 

 


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Mosaic

Artists: Mary Finnegan & Shannon McLennon

Inspiration: A mosaic is a combination of diverse elements forming a more or less coherent whole. This a is a reminder that each of us has something unique to bring to the whole, big, beautiful world.

instagram.com/scratchmaryfinnegan 

Starry Night


A Very Starry Niles

Artist: Rachel Caballero

Inspiration: Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night

@sunraydrips_ on Facebook and Instagram


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We Love Niles

Artists: Culver School PTA 

Inspiration: Colorful and fun, inspired by our 600 students, preK through 8th grade, who come in different shapes and sizes, just like the colors on our piano.  All of our kids live in the Village and we're very happy to showcase our LOVE NILES in the design.

https://www.niles71.org/pta/index

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Don't Worry Bee Happy

Artists: Nektarios Stanic, Balance Jihaad, Despina Souhlas 

Inspiration: We picked yellow and gold as our colors then decided to paint the piano with honey and bees because bees are great and they remind us of carefree summer days. 

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The Best Piano Player Under the Sea

Maine East Highschool, Lead Artist Ilhana Suljic

Inspiration: The best piano player under the sea! Who knew that an octopus could be so good at playing the piano. His eight tentacles sure make playing the piano much easier, though.

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Musical Metropolis

Artists: Northridge Preparatory School - Nebojsa Stanic with Antoni Mikula, Jacob Robinson, James Pardilla, Mateo Villalobos, Nicholas Parra, Noah Echavaz, Riley Brown, Timothy Tirpak

Inspiration: The Interaction of Tall and Short Sculptures on Multiple Surfaces creates a Cityscape that engulfs the Piano like the Notes of a Song 

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Keys to Sakura 

Artist: Joe Serrano - Spicy Panda Creations 

Inspiration: The “Keys to Sakura” concept was designed to incorporate elegant, soft, flowing movement in order to counterbalance the large heavy structure of the piano.

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Musical Landscape

Artist: Stanislaw Kieler 

Inspiration:  I hope that the serene landscape on the piano, brings the player inspiration to play beautiful calm music. 

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Beethoven Was a Headbanger

Artist: Matthew R. Buckley, Esq.

Inspiration: Beethoven, joy, and the Ukrainian people inspired this electric and eclectic two tone creation that I painted with the colors of the Ukrainian flag. At the end of Beethoven’s Ninth (and final) Symphony’s premiere, the deaf pianist and composer with the iconic hair had to be turned around to see the rapturous applause and ovation that he could not hear — this moment is depicted on the lower half of the piano, and the elevated electrical energy of that legendary musical moment surges through the scene above of guitarists rocking out hard with a mini Beethoven who is loving their jam session.”

New Beginning

Artists: Niles Artisan Guild - Marlene Hutton, Tina Himmler, Heidi Hollay, Melinda Sharkan, and Pam Yokoyama 

Inspiration: We all started with different flowers either drawing free hand or stencils then over the days Marlene Hutton took to higher level but painting bare and uninteresting wood into a beautiful masterpiece.