Holding Elected Officials Accountable for their Actions and Policies, or in this case, lack there of.
HF- We know the piano was in fine working order on 9-5-24 because its tune was tested by a synth player at Beats N the Streets that night.
This leads us to believe the fully functional piano was removed from Draper Block and smashed at the Town’s waste facility known as Cemetery Lot.
WHY?
We’d like to know.
It certainly got Spooky on the Draper Block in Blacksburg with the destruction of Stella Rose Outdoor Piano during the production of this issue. Decorating the piano was one of our first public art volunteer efforts, and had met with excellent reception. Noticing the piano’s absence, receiving an email that the she was “damaged during construction”, taking off Rita’s artwork at Cemetery lot, presenting at Town Council questioning what happened: that all occurred in a few days time.
Seeing a cherished thing smashed and going to a place that is officially nicknamed Cemetery Lot well before her expiration date is an act I witnessed that I have trouble understanding the motive. We have documented the entire process on 16blocks.org if you’d like a deeper dive. I don’t know if even M Night Shyamalan would have seen this ending coming.
From editor’s note: Print #49
9-2-2024
“Question: If the Downtown piano on Draper hasn’t been moved, when will it be?”
Council Member Anderson asked this question to Town staff BEFORE any “damage” to Stella Rose had occurred in an email acquired by 16 Blocks in a FOIA motion. Why would Councilwoman Susan Anderson request moving the fully functional Stella Rose Outdoor Piano at the end of the downtown construction?
“So it’s fair to say that when they live in the wild and they are outside, that they don’t last the same length of time that as a piano in your front parlor”
MAYOR deflects Blame of damage to piano by town workers to “Draper Block” being “IN THE WILD”.
“We can report that we have secured a new piano.
The replacement piano is on its way,
we just have to get it picked up and tuned and delivered.
I think this is the third or fourth piano that the committee has placed in downtown.”
The town’s replacement for Stella Rose has yet to be placed.
Within a week of Brame’s discovery of the lack of policy guidance, the newly formed Public Arts Committee toplisted creating a Public Arts Policy as an agenda item for their October meeting.
10-24 We’re awaiting updates from Town of Blacksburg on Progress
