Gogh Play Music! Located on the Augusta University Summerville Campus at Washington Hall!

On the afternoon of Wednesday, March 20, 2024, I met Gary Dennis, the Executive Director of the Jessye Norman School of the Arts (JNSA), in front of Washington Hall on the Summerville Campus of Augusta University. The JNSA had recently placed my painted piano, and it was time to affix a plaque and snap some photos! However, the piano was covered in a sticky yellow-green pollen residue. We tried our best to clear most of it off and make it photo-ready.

​But I'm getting ahead of myself. There is a story to tell!

​In early 2023, I answered a call for artists. The Jessye Norman School of the Arts was looking for three artists to paint one of three donated pianos that would be placed in special locations across the city. This Painted Piano Project was long on my list of dream projects I'd hoped one day would fall into my lap. On a whim I tossed my hat in the ring and hoped for the best, not believing I had a chance. But still, I figured, what the heck, let’s see what happens. I fully believed I would be rejected. I mean, when art rock stars such as Staci Swider, Leonard "Porkchop" Zimmerman, Rhian Swain, and Jason Craig had painted pianos for the JNSA, I thought for sure that I wasn't worthy enough to be included in that list of luminaries.

Then, just a few months later, I received the most surprising email of my art career. I had been selected! I made the cut! It took me a minute to compose myself. I read the email over and over until it sunk in that the email was NOT a rejection. It was an acceptance. And this quickly became THE BIGGEST thing to happen to me since I began making, showing and selling art in late 2018. I was going to make my very first piece of public art.

​After picking myself up off the floor, I scrambled for an idea.

Nothing came to me.

I thought about a space scene of some sort. However, it wasn’t until I met with the school’s executive director that the thought of doing a riff on Van Gogh’s "Starry Night" popped into my head. Gary asked about my idea. I looked at the ceiling and saw Van Gogh himself staring at me, whispering “Starry Night.”

​So I blurted that out, surprising myself.

True story.

The director loved the idea and was excited about the prospect, so he took me to the Music Room to see the piano I would be painting. It was donated by the former executive director of Westobou, Kristi Jilson Sykes. The instrument had some serious local provenance. Gary cut me a check for half the stipend so I could buy the paint and supplies I would need. 

Dean and I rushed to Lowe's for swatches. I found the perfect hue, "Encore," a rich blue that screamed Van Gogh. I knew at this moment the piano project would be a success.

I began working on the piece the Friday after Thanksgiving with help from my beloved husband. We rolled the piano onto a tarp and set to work, priming it and slathering on a base coat of blue. It felt like my spur-of-the-moment painting plan was falling into place.

There was only one problem. I truly had no idea how I was going to pull this off. Once we were back at the house, I went into my art studio and found an old canvas I long ago painted in shades of blue. I sat down and created a sort of mock-up idea to get the juices flowing.

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I called this painting "Vinnie Van Gogh-Gogh" because we were about to go-go for it. Ha.

​A couple of weeks later we returned to the school, the above portrait in hand as a reference, and that is when the actual painting of Gogh Play Music began.
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As a portrait artist, I am used to holding, turning, and flipping canvases over to work on them. Kinda hard to hold, turn, and flip a piano. I decided to just relax and see what I could do. Using colors similar to the ones Van Gogh used in his life, I created swooping, swirling clouds, yellow stars, and textures. I left the actual portrait till almost the end. 

I took a deep breath, set my painted portrait on the piano, and started to work.

I was pleasantly surprised at the outcome.

I was able to make it happen! 

Instead of realism, I went for artistic expression and absolutely fell in love with my Vincent.  I believe he'd probably be pretty happy with it, too.

Now, back to the afternoon of March 20.

Gary showed me the plaque that would be affixed to the piano. I asked if I could take a picture of it, hence the photo above. The tears obeyed me. They stayed put. But inside, I was crying happy tears. This piano, parked outside the doors of Washington Hall on the AU campus, will offer students and staff something fun and colorful to enjoy any time they want to bang out a tune.

I can't say thank you enough, and there are no words adequate to express my gratitude, but I do want to offer the hugest thanks to Gary Dennis, the JNSA, AU, and the Porter Fleming Foundation. You guys made one of this old gal's biggest dreams come true, and I can never thank you enough.

If you're curious about how the piano came together, click HERE to watch the timelapse I put together during the process of painting this thing.

​Now,  GOGH PLAY MUSIC!

CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO WATCH A TIMELAPSE OF
 THE CREATION OF GOGH PLAY MUSIC!
​​​https://youtu.be/KzaiR6DkvnQ