Kelowna’s Pianos in Parks seeks painters to give the program a new look

New look for pianos

Over the years, some famous and not-so-famous people have tickled the ivories of Kelowna’s Pianos in Parks.

Now, Festivals Kelowna is putting out the call for artists to jazz up six new pianos that will join the fleet this summer.

“Pianos are donated to us by community members. Usually, it’s your mom or dad who decide to move out some stuff they don’t need around the house anymore and they’ll give Okanagan Piano Services a call.

“If there’s a spot available in the program, they’ll come pick it up and bring them over to us,” explains Pianos in Parks program coordinator Saturday Sazaran.

The artists selected can range from well-known professionals to the up-and-coming.

“We work with brand new ones too,” says Sazaran. “Stefania Miro was new from Ukraine as a refugee two years ago and she painted a beautiful piano.

“They don’t need to be established. We just ask them to have existing work that we can reference to see how they paint in the real world.”

The submission deadline for artists is April 14. Then, they will have until the end of May to complete the work.

The pianos will be installed around Downtown Kelowna and Rutland in mid-June. Piano ambassadors from different organizations, like the Downtown Kelowna Association decide where to place the popular attractions. Sazaran says for this year, Kelowna Museums and the Kelowna Memorial Park Cemetery have rejoined the program after taking a few years off.

This is the 10th year for Pianos in Parks, which has proven a hit with tourists and locals alike.

When it first launched in 2015, Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler drew a crowd when he played a ditty along Kelowna’s waterfront. Keith Urban stopped by one in 2016 and Artkem Radionov of the Ukrainian group Probass & Hardi showed off his skills in 2023.

Email proposals to Saturday Sazaran, project coordinator, at [email protected]