BID Placing Pianos in Downtown Missoula

The Downtown Business Improvement District of Missoula (BID) and the University of Montana Keyboard Society have partnered together to place two stand-up pianos in Downtown Missoula on Friday, June 20, 2014. This community outreach project brings together visual art and music to enhance Missoula’s sense of community and pride as people stop to listen, talk, and play on the ivory keys. "The Downtown BID wants downtown Missoula business men and women, tourists, and community members to share music, experiences, and stories as the pianos draw people to them," said Tim France, owner of Worden’s Market and President of the Downtown BID Board of Directors. "We’re all in this together, to get creative with how we can increase our downtown economic vitality. This project is just one fun idea, and it will be fascinating to see what happens when you put a piano on a downtown sidewalk."

One piano will be placed adjacent to the alley at 415 North Higgins in front of the Higgins Plaza building. The second piano will be placed in the Bank Street Pocket Park near Hunter Bay Coffee. Once placed, the pianos will be designed and painted through the Zootown Arts Community Center’s Art Youth Program and an artist-at-large. The pianos have been donated to Downtown Missoula by University Congregational Church (UCC) and Rollie Dotz of Dotz Piano. Delivery of the pianos has been donated by Gary Bowman of Morgenroth Music Center.

This project is modeled after several large cities, such as Calgary and Toronto, Canada. Toronto placed 41 pianos in their downtown for a three year period leading up to hosting the 2015 PanAm Games. Smaller communities, such as Fort Collins, Colo., have a well-developed downtown piano program, and community members have taken it upon themselves to care for the pianos. Additionally, pianos in localized areas of these cities have been a primary force in transforming a stagnant and unattractive space into an inviting area where people enjoy congregating. The intention of the Downtown BID is to create additional place-making qualities in these two locations.

"It takes a lot of people to create the Downtown culture we have come to appreciate, and many hands have been a part of this effort to roll this project out quickly in order for the community to enjoy the pianos this summer," said France.

Morgenroth Music Center will deliver both pianos to the two Downtown locations between 10:15 and 11:30am, Friday, June 20, 2014.

The Downtown BID is seeking help from the Missoula community to take care of the community pianos by covering them up in inclement weather with tarps that will be attached to the back of each piano. If there are

artists interested in volunteering to paint a piano, or for more information on the Downtown Piano Project, please call Noreen at 406-543-4238 or email [email protected].

Downtown Missoula: Connecting Our Community!