Ben Wiemeyer’s fluid flashes of color take center stage with this baby grand at the center of Abravanel Hall.

The unveiling of six artist-transformed pianos was accompanied by a free public concert in front of Abravanel Hall on Friday, May 31.

The six upcycled pianos are part of the Key Changes project, a collaboration between Salt Lake County Arts and Culture, the Gina Bachauer Piano Foundation, and The Blocks Arts District which aims to bring unique art and music to the public space throughout the summer. The pianos will remain on Abravanel Plaza all summer, and will be available for the public to play.

Misha Galant, a 2024 quarterfinalist in the Bachauer competition, played two sonatas at the unveiling. His was the first in a series of free public concert in the plaza that will be held on the last Friday of the month at noon.

Six local artists — Ryan Harrington, Chuck Landvatter, Evan Jed Memmott, Richard Taylor, Kalani Tonga Tufuaku, and Ben Wiemeyer — were commissioned to upcycle the pianos.

Abravanel Hall, which opened in 1979,  has been in the news lately because of the planned take over of three city blocks by Smith Entertainment group’s proposed tax-subsidized development. When Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson announced that she wanted to see Abravanel Hall renovated rather than torn down, concert goers breathed a sigh of relief. Fans of the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, where many of the artists who transformed these pianos are known to hang out, may have done so as well. But UMOCA has not been saved from the chopping block. More details to follow. …

Chuck Landvatter’s piano honors Maurice Abravanel, the longtime conductor of the Utah Symphony for whom Salt Lake City renamed their concert hall in 1993.

Kalani Tonga Tufuaku not only left her piano playable, but tuned it.  “I want the public to interact with it and feel invested and connected to the piece in a personal way,” she says.

Looked at facing east, away from Abravanel Hall, Ryan Harrington’s piano evokes the city skyline. He says he was interested in creating a “non-recognizable form” and “monolithic structure” to evoke a hidden potential within the object.

Jed Memmott has adapted the the tiger oak patterns in the original wood to his flowing street style of art. Most of the artists selected for Key Changes are also known for their mural work along the Wasatch Front. You may recognize the artist’s tag line, “Nothing Lasts” from his mural in South Salt Lake.

Several of the artists in Key Changes provide peeks into the inner workings of their pianos, none more so than but Richard Taylor, who lays the whole thing bare. He’s also inserted some solar-panel activated devices that activate vibrations along the piano’s strings.

Key Changes, Abravanel Plaza, 123 W S Temple St, Salt Lake City, through September

In Plain Site

With our In Plain Site byline we feature publicly viewable art, both official and street art, throughout the state of Utah.