Tickle Those Ivories!

 

Uploaded by Maria Rubio (New England Conservatory, Huntington Ave/Gainsborough St)

Don't know if you've heard about "Play Me, I’m Yours", an art project by artist Luke Jerram. Since 2008, over 1000 street pianos have been installed in 37 cities across the globe, bearing the simple invitation to Play Me, I’m Yours! The Celebrity Series of Boston is sponsoring the event here, running through October 14th.

75 pianos located in public spaces in Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, and Brookline are available for anyone to play and enjoy. All day today, the NE Conservatory's piano, located at the corner of Huntington and Gainsborough, will be played by the school's students, faculty, and staff -- rumor has it, there might even be free lessons for interested spectators.

Tonight, from 6:30 to 7:30,  Skye Schulte, the artist who painted the Prudential Center piano, will host a concert there.   Should be fun.

Two Peaceful Places Are Among the APA's 2013 Great Places

Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Springtime         All photos ©Lynn Schweikart 

Cambridge's Mt. Auburn Cemetery and the Norman B. Leventhal Park in Boston's Post Office Square have long been two of my favorite "peaceful places".  This year, both were recognized as Great Public Spaces by the American Planning Association (APA). This designation is part of the APA's "Great Places in America" program, which according the their website, "celebrates places of exemplary character, quality, and planning". In my opinion, both Mt. Auburn and Post Office Square Park are perfectly wonderful examples of this.

Another view of Mt. Auburn Cemetery

As I describe the former in Peaceful Places Boston:

"The natural beauty of Mount Auburn--with its hills, dells, knolls, and ponds--inspires contemplative wandering. There are nearly 6,000 trees—600 varieties of 75 genera, most labeled and recorded—as well as some 250 species of shrubs and groundcovers. Awalk along Indian Ridge in spring is an olfactory delight as scents of magnolia, viburnum, lilac, and crab apple blossoms mingle in the air."

The fountain at Post Office 

Post Office Square is also a delight:

"The park’s 0.5-acre lawn is so lush that the groundskeeper at Fenway Park must be green with envy. Not only are you welcome to sit on the grass, but if you do, one of the helpful park attendants is also likely to hand you a cushion so you don’t stain your clothes. Someone was even thoughtful enough to install Wi-Fi! I haven’t experience such a meeting myself, but the scuttlebutt is that the park is a great place for single 24- to 32-year-old professionals to meet. Apparently more than flowers blossom here in Post Office Square." 

In 2010, another one of my Peaceful Places, Boston's Riverway, was honored with the "Great Places" designation.