Pianoss that were headed toward the trash ended up on their way to MetLife Stadium, complete with Super Bowl rings, game paint, and celebrity endorsement.
These very special instruments made an appearance at the big game in order to honor student artists who put a lot of work into them. Each piano was repurposed by the organization, “Sing for Hope” and they put on quite a show.
What the program does is gather a bunch of volunteer artists to come and create works of art on the reclaimed pianos. If they had not done this for these instruments, the instruments were going to meet their fate in the scrap yard. Now they can be presented all over New York City so that individuals can play them. They are completely open and after they are done being on display, they are donated to schools, hospitals, hospices, and other organizations that would normally not have the budgets to afford musical instruments.
The paintings on each piano were of the different neighborhoods that the students live in. For instance, one piano had an image of the New York City skyline from DUMBO, Brooklyn. Another student painted East Harlem, while another piano was painted by football great Kurt Warner and his family.
Sing for Hope was actually approached by the NFL. They told the organization that they wanted some of their pianos displayed at the Super Bowl. They wanted a football-themed piano and a New York-themed one. It all came together rather quickly as the students worked very hard to not disappoint. The end result was something that Super Bowl fans found to be quite fascinating. While most people are used to seeing the traditional black or brown piano, they were met with quite the surprise.
Kurt Warner’s daughter, Jessie Joe, is a volunteer artist with Sing for Hope, but it was Warner himself who decided to play a big role in painting a piano for the display. His wife even had him buy rhinestones for the Super Bowl rings. The rest of the painting shows Lady Liberty catching a touchdown.
The students stated that they are not die hard football fans, but they did enjoy actually being at and watching this year’s game in-person. In addition to watching the game, they were able to feel the pride of their pianos being on display and they were MVPs right along with Warner – Most Valuable Painters.