A man plays a public piano in front of Lancaster’s library.

Lancaster, Pennsylvania has a brilliant public art exhibit on display, Keys for the City. The exhibit contains twenty pianos dispersed throughout the city, each ready for a pianist to sit down and start playing.

The exhibit, a joint-venture between public and private interests, has been chiefly organized by a non-profit organization, Music for Everyone.

“The pianos are intended to engage the public by inspiring people to stop and strike a few keys or play an entire piece,” said John Gerdy, president of Music For Everyone. “This project is a literal expression of what this organization is about — music for everyone.”

Each piano on display was custom designed. Businesses and organizations could sponsor the pianos or select sites for pianos near their property. While I was wandering through only a small area of Downtown Lancaster for a short period of time, I saw two pianos, one being played directly in front of the City Library. (The scene reminded me of the piano staircase in Stockholm.)

A piano on display across from the Central Market on King Street.

Artwork and music joined together in public spaces is a great way to get people to interact with their environment—it can make a person linger around a place just a little while longer to hear someone’s playing or provide an opportunity for random, joyful interactions between strangers over a mutual appreciation for a song that is being played.

What a great idea! New York City thinks so, too. I imagine that this type of interactive art display might be popping up in more cities in the near future, perhaps in the Washington region.

Pete Witte is an urban planner and researcher. Born, raised, and grown in middle-America, Pete currently lives in Arlington, Virginia and works as a researcher for the National Alliance to End Homelessness in Washington, D.C.