Pianos in Public in Buffalo NY this summer
Help Pianos in Public Buffalo reach its goal of $4,000 on Kickstarter…
Your name on a piano in public in Buffalo :$50
A dedication to your loved one on a piano in public Buffalo: $100
Your business’ name on a piano in public Buffalo: $300
Your business’ name AND website on a piano in public Buffalo: $500
Your business’ name AND website on a piano in public Buffalo and a one hour concert from The Buffalo Crooner (Buffalo area only): $750
Yes, I want to donate $ to the project for a reward.
As seen on TV (YNN Buffalo)
Pianos in Public Buffalo
Thank God for piano movers like Tom Miller and his crew in Buffalo, New York. Why? Because they move used pianos for the new Pianos in Public Buffalo project by entertainer Mark Weber, the Buffalo Crooner.
Pianos in public spaces and pianos in public places? That’s the plan. Older, used upright pianos have been collected and are being painted to look funky and artistic. Then the pianos are placed at places like Canalside Buffalo (currently there!) and Larkin Square Buffalo (coming June 26th).
There are currently five pianos in the Pianos in Public Buffalo collection, and more can be acquired, but it takes a lot of money to do this project. With the help of generous donors, who get their name or dedication or website on a Piano in Public or the website BeautifulBuffalo.com as a thank you reward, this project can bring joy to thousands of Buffalo locals and tourists alike from June 2013 through September 2013 when Buffalo is warm and sunny and people are outdoors daily.
Piano #1 debuted at Canalside on Mother’s Day in Buffalo
Piano #1 is now at Canalside in downtown Buffalo. Take a video of your friend playing it, upload it to your YouTube page, and then email primopr716@juno.com with the link. If it’s appropriate, short, interesting, cool and/or fun, it’ll get posted here for even more people to see!
As you can imagine, old pianos are heavy, expensive beasts to move. For example, it costs $200 or more to move one piano from someone’s house to the garage for painting and then to the summer venue. 5 pianos have been collected, 1 is in public, 4 are awaiting paint jobs and placement, and about 12 pianos are on the waiting list to be picked up if/when funds become available.
Pianos in Public currently has a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to move, paint and store pianos– the more people give, the more pianos you’ll see around Buffalo this summer, making people feel good.
The Kickstarter campaign ends June 6th. If the goal of $4,000 isn’t met, no funds at all are collected. Don’t let that happen! Please consider making a monetary donation in exchange for recognition with rewards like your name or dedication painted on a piano, or your company’s name/website on one. Thousands of people, including locals and tourists, will see these pianos around Buffalo, so it’s a unique way to let people know you love and support Buffalo, music and art.
KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN GOAL: $4,000
PLEDGED TO DATE: $945
GOAL REACHED: 23%
BACKERS: 19 people
MEN: 10 pledges
WOMEN: 9 pledges
Ladies, do you want to beat the men?
MAKE YOUR $ DONATION HERE AND CHOOSE YOUR REWARD
Kickstarter backers of this project:
1- Johnny Juarez
2- Joe Kwiatkowski
3- Robbie Kleinberg
4- Susan Stievater
5- James and Julienne DesJardins
6- Leslie Zemsky
7- Daniel Kulinski
8- Kathleen Burgess
9- Barbara Kaczmarek, your local Arbonne healthy lifestyle products representative; host a spa party– visit Barb’s Arbonne website here for details.
10- Tim Jimbo Dyet
11- Bob Confer of Confer Plastics
12- Zach Carr
13- Ginger Torrado
14- Joshua Vito
15- Colleen Kennedy Harshman
16- Francis Mutidjo in Tampa
17- Rachel
18- Tim Barnes
19- Laura Almeida
QUOTES FROM CONTRIBUTORS:
“My heart is truly with this city. If I was able to, I would give to everyone who is making a difference, to make this city a better place to live/visit. I believe in your project and I love music. It has brought so much joy into my life, just as I know these colorful pianos will bring joy to others. Thanks again and let me know if there is anything else I can do to help!” –Ginger Torrado
“I am a pianist in Buffalo and it would be wonderful for more people to listen to the music the piano brings. Good luck guys and I hope to be playing one of those pianos on the waterfront soon” –Tim Jimbo Dyet
“I’m from Buffalo, so I sometimes look for local projects there to support. And I spent last summer in London, where there were public pianos and it was a wonderful experience. Best of luck!” –Colleen Kennedy Harshman
“Heard you on WYRK. You sounded like a stand up guy, Mark. Best regards.” –Josh Vito, website designer and developer
“I have a deep appreciation for all that you do, Mark, and so I wanted to give back to you for helping me with my cause. I am a big believer in commitment and consistency when it comes to successful philanthropic endeavors. If we don’t help each other, less will be accomplished. Also, I am a firm believer in what you are trying to do here. I love the idea and cool possibilities that it could bring.” –Zach Carr, singer and pianist
FAQ:
What about rain? The pianos will be covered as much as possible to avoid rain and direct sun. Exposed pianos have canvas covers.
What about when the weather gets cold? The pianos will go to indoor homes/storage in September.
What about permits? Landon Chaffee will secure permits as needed.
What about noise? The pianos will be located in busy public gathering places where their sound is welcomed.
What about vandalism? If needed, pianos will be chained up (like at Canalside), and looked after by security, cameras, etc. If vandalized, they’ll have to be re-painted or replaced.
What about tuning? Landon Chaffee and Kevin Urso will check up on the pianos often, tuning as needed.
Has this been done before? Yes, in cities worldwide, including New York, Toronto, London and many more. It brings communities together for sing-a-longs, smiles, and good times. Isn’t it about time Buffalo enjoyed the fun?
Where can I see these pianos? Canalside near the waterfront, overlooking the Skyway and grain elevators. In June, Larkin Square. Other locations tbd.
Can anyone play these pianos? Yes, that’s the point. You can be awful or brilliant or somewhere in between. This is art/music for fun, to bring joy to people.
Can I buy a piano after the season ends? Yes. Email primopr716@juno.com to arrange that.
Can I help with the project in some way? Possibly. Email primopr716@juno.com. At this time, a team has been assembled that’s keeping things running smoothly.
Pianos in Public Buffalo is made possible by a number of great Buffalonians:
Need your piano moved? Call Tom!
EXPERT PIANO MOVERS
Miller Piano Service/Tom Miller, Garrett Whittall, Lucas West, Zechariah Vandewart (716) 625-8577
EXPERT PIANO COVERS
Custom Canvas of Buffalo/The Guido Family; 775 Seneca St., Buffalo, NY 14210 (716) 852-6372
EXPERT PIANO TUNERS/REPAIR
Kevin Urso, a musician, teacher and piano tuner
Landon Chaffee, an entertainment designer in Allentown
PIANO PAINTING ARTISTS
Mark Weber, Fine Art America
Heidi Lynn Farrell Brown, 515 Main Studio 5 Gallery
Jerry Lange, Gerald Lange Art
Christina Reilly, BigHeadCartoon.com
YNN Buffalo’s Jon Dougherty and James Acton getting footage for their newscast
MEDIA SUPPORTERS
WJYE 96.1 FM/Laura Daniels
WYRK 106.5 FM/Dale Mussen, Clay Moden
Hear the interview here.
WBFO 88.7 FM/Eileen Buckley
YNN Buffalo – Time Warner Cable/Jon Dougherty, James Acton
Click here to see YNN’s coverage.
WGRZ Channel 2/Norm Fisher, Matt Pitts, Scott Levin, Maryalice Demler, Kevin O’Connell
See the Channel 2, WGRZ.com posting here.
BuffaloRising.com/Newell Nussbaumer
See the original BuffaloRising.com article here.
See the latest Buffalo Rising article here.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
3-year-old Ben likes the colorfully painted Piano #1
PIANO DONATORS
Bonnie Sikes of Buffalo
Mark Kraatz of Olcott
Phil Wright of Buffalo
Dan Kulinski of Cheektowaga
Jeff Wereski of Orchard Park
PIANO DONATIONS
At this time, we are not accepting any more piano donations; however, if you have a piano you’d like to donate, please use the email below to connect with Mark Weber, and he’ll let you know if your piano can be used after June 6th. If you really want that old piano out of your house RIGHT NOW, you’re also welcome to give your old piano to Tom Miller of Miller Piano Service in Niagara County. His number is (716) 625-8577. If you do that, please at least consider making a monetary donation to Pianos in Public Buffalo of $100.
PIANO HOSTING VENUES
Canalside/Chris Catanzaro, Roger Browning
Larkin Square/Leslie Zemsky, Emily Eckert, Juliet Wnek
EMAIL
Mark Weber: primopr716@juno.com
ABOUT MARK WEBER
Mark Weber loves music and loves Buffalo. He has written several songs, working with producer Joe Secchiaroli of The Reign of Kindo. You can hear both his original songs and covers of classic tunes from the old days at www.reverbnation.com/markweber. You can buy his album, “Days Like These,” featuring the song “3407″ about the plane crash in suburban Buffalo, on iTunes or Amazon.
Pictures of Buffalo, New York in the Springtime
Buffalo is quite beautiful in the Springtime. Here are some photos I took, mostly downtown on a warm, Spring day in May…
–Mark Weber
Betsy Ross’ beautiful Buffalo Renaissance wedding
Betsy Ross finally found love at age 50, and married her knight in a fairytale wedding, complete with participants and guests wearing Renaissance attire provided by the bride herself, who runs Betsy Ross Costumes on Main Street in Clarence, New York, a suburb of Buffalo.
Most people hear the name Betsy Ross and think of the iconic seamstress widely credited with making the first American flag in the late 1700s. Western New York’s Betsy Ross continues her namesake’s tradition, as she made her groom’s tunic and a costume for the horse she rode in on. Meanwhile, her mother made the bride’s dress, along with the flower girls’ outfits.
When she’s not running Betsy Ross Costumes, Ross is an active community theater actress. She enlisted her creative friends to contribute to the wedding extravaganza, including a juggler and herald trumpet player. The famous “Bells and Motley” from Sterling, New York’s Renaissance Festival provided traditional Renaissance music for the day.
The legendary Florence Herberger
Ross wore her 103-year-old grandmother’s bridal veil; her grandmother is Florence Herberger, a local celebrity profiled on WGRZ Channel 2′s website!
Buffalo’s Melanie Beitel, designer and artist extraordinaire
Artist Melanie Beitel of Buffalo, NY
When people without blue hair see Buffalo’s Melanie Beitel with her very distinct, somewhat unusual look, they assume she’s weird. The reality? She’s one of the nicest, kindest, most down-to-earth people you could meet in Buffalo. And she is an extraordinary artist, as you can see by some of the pictures below of her artistic creations.
Melanie designs logos, draws portraits, does freelance graphic design, illustration and “anything creative.” She’s also a keyboard player and vocalist in bands like Third Realm and City of God. Oh, and she LOVES cats. She is a true artist.
“I am enamored with the surreal and the abstract as much as I am with realism and preciseness when it comes to art,” she tells BeautifulBuffalo.com. “I marvel at a beautiful, realistic portrait drawing of a person as much as I do the Futurist abstract paintings of Umberto Boccioni. I enjoy using different colors and textures in my work, and seeing how they play off each other, and the images or emotions they project. I strive for beauty in many different forms and love how many different ways it can be achieved. Give me a computer or give me a paintbrush and see what I can do.”
If you’d like to contact Melanie Beitel, email mbeitel@hotmail.com or visit https://www.facebook.com/MelanieBeitelDesign
Buffalo in yellow and green
Buffalo is in bloom. Enjoy these strikingly beautiful pictures of bright yellow flowers and green grass under brown trees near Ellicott Creek in Buffalo, NY…
Buffalo Subway should expand to Elmwood, Niagara Falls Boulevard, Millersport Highway and Main to Transit Road
Black = Buffalo’s current subway system; Red = Routes that should be added to Buffalo’s light rail system (no brainers!)
Good things are happening in downtown Buffalo for the first time in decades. Canalside near the water is becoming a place for Western New Yorkers to hang out. The Buffalo-Niagara Medical Campus near Allentown is burgeoning with smart people and new residents. Elmwood Avenue continues to thrive as a local shopper’s/hipster’s paradise. With that in mind, here at BeautifulBuffalo.com we’ve come up with four new routes that Buffalo’s way-too-short “light rail” subway should implement. Since digging under ground would be expensive and take a long time, perhaps above ground rail lines and spartan stations could be installed along the following major roadways: Elmwood Avenue, Niagara Falls Boulevard, Millersport Highway, and Main St. to Transit Road/Eastern Hills Mall. By adding these new “lines” to the subway/light rail system in Western New York, new development would spring up in those areas, and Buffalo would finally have a transit system that makes sense, instead of what’s now called “the train to nowhere,” a six mile or so system that has always been too short for its own good.
Buffalo subway car
Even if the proposed routes never came to fruition, a no-brainer for expansion is this: the subway should go from UB’s “South Campus” on Main and Bailey (where it presently ends) over to the UB North Campus a few miles away in Amherst. Imagine 20,000 students and teachers at the UB North Campus hopping on the subway from the campus to their homes and nightlife in Buffalo, from LaSalle to Allentown, and downtown’s Main Street with all its built-in but underutilized amenities. If the powers-that-be read this, get going on expanded Buffalo’s light rail system already, so it better serves the population!
Live at Larkin 2013 Music Schedule
Larkin Square is Buffalo’s hottest spot this summer, and their music schedule has arrived:
Larkin Square Music Schedule
