Santa Barbara, CA (2021)

Pianos on State

As part of a community arts grant, I used sheet music, decorative paper, and original watercolors to collage a bee-themed piano. The piano was exhibited in downtown Santa Barbara, where it became a site of musical cross-pollination.

Song filled the streets.

Initial Sketches

Poetic Inspiration

Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that I had a beehive
here inside my heart.
And the golden bees
were making white combs
and sweet honey
from my old failures.

Antonio Machado

Opening Night

To celebrate the pianos’ voyages from the workshop to the streets, Santa Barbarian musicians duetted on ten different instruments.

MasQ(P)arade

The grand finale of Pianos on State was a piano progressive. A roving audience migrated between pianos while pursuing masked musicians.