Pop-Up Piano Unveiled At Salt Marsh Center

Photo by Robert Fernandez

You know those cool pianos that have been popping up all over the city? Well, the Marine Park Salt Marsh Nature Center is playing host to one of only two pianos in Southern Brooklyn.

The Pop-Up Piano Project is organized by Sing for Hope, a non-profit organization that mobilizes professional artists in volunteer service programs that benefit schools, hospitals and communities.

Aside from the Salt Marsh – on Avenue U and East 33rd Street – the other Southern Brooklyn piano can be found in Coney Island, on the Riegelmann Boardwalk. But if you want to play these very public pianos in private, we strongly recommend the Salt Marsh. The place was empty when we stopped by for a photo, and the piano was still covered in a tarp (we uncovered it for the photos, and someone came by to play moments later).

Wondering about the moss on the side of the thing? No, it hasn’t been there that long. Here’s the description from the Sing for Hope website:

A tribute to nature and the piano’s wooden origins. The design means to emphasize the wood of the piano and capture the environment through moss and painted leaf, liana, xylem, and phloem cell patterns.

It’s got a name, too: Llana, designed by artist Jenn Wong.

Go check it out, and send us videos of your performance. We’ll post them on the site!