Have you heard about Dublin Arts Council’s latest celebrity? Surprisingly, it’s not D’Art, our infamous gallery cat, although, this celebrity does have a unique tone to its voice. Have I said too much?  Playing Through, an interactive street piano, is the latest addition to Dublin Art in Public Places program. This unique street piano has already gained fans and a strong following after its unveiling at Dublin Arts Council during the opening reception for emerging: an exhibition of student artwork. Families, students and pianists of all ages lined up and waited their turn to tickle the ivories. Commissioned in response to The Presidents Cup, Playing Through will make special appearances throughout the city into the month of October.

So what makes Playing Through special to golf in Dublin? How about the fact that pop artist Joss Parker’s first job was as a caddy? Parker cut each individual blue dot (applied vinyl) with an Exacto knife to place on the piano. What a time intensive process! How about the unique message the artist left imprinted on the piano for the community? If you look closely at the front of the piano and focus on the small dots, you will see a capital letter “D” for Dublin. As if that’s not enough “special”, the piano itself is by Gordon Laughead and was built in 1964 in Grand Haven, Mich., the very last year that Laughead produced pianos. Essentially, this 49-year-old piano is the last of its kind, and its legacy will live on through the arts in Dublin.  Now that is something special.

Arts collaborative, ALTernative, wanted to be sure that Playing Through was unique to the Dublin community and therefore designers Eliza Ho and her husband Tim Lai garnered feedback from the community prior to the final design. Their artist statement captures the significance of the design. Ho states,  “The design takes the cue from a golf ball and the dimples on its surface. Multiplying hundreds of golf balls, the design creates a circle field and web-like pattern that looks seemingly repetitive yet with rhythm, like music notes.” Ho goes on to say, “The color also lends itself to the idea of water, alluding to the Scioto River in Dublin.” Click here for details on Playing Through or to read the artist’s full statement.

Are you an experienced pianist who wants to showcase your talents for the community? Perhaps you are a beginner who wants to take a turn at the bench. Or maybe you’ve never played before and simply want to dabble with music. Whatever experience level, and however you’d like to do it, we welcome you to embrace and engage with Dublin’s newest public artwork.

So the question of the hour… Where will Playing Through travel next?