In 2016, my artists behind the fence at Brookside Youth Centre applied for the privilege of painting a piano that would be placed in Cobourg's downtown area for the summer. Keys to the Town it was called. In the early spring, we came up with a design and submitted it to the town for consideration. Below is our design for that year.
We won the opportunity that year and a donated piano was delivered to our art space. Officers checked the insides for possible future weapons. We were good to go!
In subsequent years, we won the right twice more. Below are two of our proud, and faceless, artists with the finished work of art in 2019.
Each year there was more interest from artists and staff. Our wonderful addictions counsellor painted the people on this bus that was on the back of our 2019 submission.
2018's pianos had a 100 year Anniversary of the end of World War One theme. One of our artists hand wrote a WW1 letter home to Cobourg that I found on the internet ..... all around the top of the piano. I remember the moment when he realized that his writing had gone horribly off on the third line from the top. He felt very disappointed in himself. I reminded him that he was writing from a trench and that was pretty good if you are writing from a trench.
Each year that we contributed a painted piano, paint costs were covered by the town and we received a monetary honorarium: $500, $500 and $400. The first year, a wise manager met with our artists and interested staff and helped us think about what to do with those funds. We settled on helping women around the world to have a better life through a donation to their KIVA loan. KIVA is a micro lending organization. This is how they see themselves: "We envision a financially inclusive world where all people hold the power to improve their lives"
Because our artists did not have computer access at Brookside, I brought in profiles of possible loan applicants. Our artists decided how much to give to who. Every month we would receive repayments and the process would start all over again.
By the time Brookside closed down, we had a wall covered with profiles of ladies who we had supported. Our artists had some parameters for lending: women and no Americans. They felt Americans were too rich.
When Brookside closed, I kept up re-lending the monthly payments. And, that brings us to today. Today we passed the $10,000.00 mark! Isn't it amazing how much a consistent small amount of investment can do?
I'll finish with words I wrote on June 1, 2018:
Our "Keys to the Town" piano is coming along nicely. I'd say we are 80% finished with 3 weeks to go. 5 youth have bonded into a hard-working, enthusiastic and supportive team. I'll try and paint you a picture of today's example of that truth.
I wanted to have the words, Brookside Youth Centre, "Talent of Many" Artists placed somewhere on the piano. This morning I cut out a stencil by hand with those words on it and brought it to class. Only 3 youth were there this afternoon and immediately, they agreed that it needed to be front and centre. Our perfectionist artist located the centre of the piano and carefully taped each piece of the stencil in place. Then, he selected 5 colours and tapped them into the stencil using a big paint brush. He layered the colours until he got the effect he was looking for. What was that effect, you ask? The same effect another youth had achieved on a stencil done on the piano's seat. He had admired his work and wanted to replicate it.
Then, the problem arose: do you leave the stencil on to dry and thereby possibly have problems lifting it off? Or, do you take it off immediately and possibly smudge your work?They chose the latter option.
I wish you could have seen this. One youth was carefully lifting the paint-covered stencil away from the piano while another gently pulled up the masking tape. Another was hovering to help in any way he could. It was like a great unveiling. When all of the stencils were removed, we all stood back and admired the words.
I noticed right away that each word was somewhat askew. I wondered whether the young man who'd taped the stencils on would have a fit. When he came to us a half year ago, his perfectionism would shut him down. But... he looked at the words and noted they were a bit off and was good with it. Oh! The power of art!
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