Stratheden Street Piano
Kyogle’s Stratheden Street Piano is coming soon!
The idea was put forward in 2025 as a means to creative community engagement - street pianos have been placed in towns and cities all over the world to add colour and music to streetscapes.
The upright piano, generously donated by a local resident, will take its place on Stratheden Street next to the Kyogle Memorial Institute Hall (KMI) in the next few months. There it will be available for anyone to sit down and play, from practiced musicians to curious passersby. The Stratheden Street Piano aims to bring joy, spontaneity and shared connection to town.
Once installed, the piano will be in place for a three-month trial while Council gathers community feedback.
Local artist Sally Joyce has been selected to transform the donated piano into a piece of art.
Sally will begin painting the piano in the coming weeks, adding colour, character and a sense of Kyogle’s creative spirit before it’s installed against the wall of the KMI.
We are excited to see Sally apply her considerable skills in painting the piano and then hear the melodies that will drift through town.
More details, including installation dates and launch information, will be shared soon.
This page will be updated as the project progresses.
Artist's Statement (Sally Joyce)
I am delighted for the opportunity to paint the Kyogle Piano.
This is a gift to my community. I wish to enshrine this piano with Kyogle’s rich, colourful and intricately beautiful natural surrounds particularly our iconic Border Ranges National Park which I find spiritually beautiful and glorious. I hope my work adds value to the piano in a way that is ‘priceless’ and in doing so I wish to demonstrate the worth, value and joy that artists and musicians can bring to public places and take a moment to quietly (or loudly) appreciate that. I hope that every aspiring musician that steps up to play this piano, feels honoured and special no matter the notes that come.
I will be collaborating with my son Angus Joyce on a piano composition that will be inspired by the Helmholtzia Stream Lily (featured on the artwork) This musical piece will in-turn, determine aspects of the artwork. The notes of nature will inspire the notes of colour…stay ‘tuned’. It is sure to be a magical launch.
This humble piano will feel like a grand piano when this project is complete.
I will be taking the time to mentor a young aspiring artist, Amber Bowman along the way, by teaching her the process of mural creation and public art. Amber will be working alongside me on her own ‘mini-mural’ as well as assisting with specific areas of the design and painting at different stages.
Listen (and watch) to Sally talk about her practice on Arts Talk TV
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