The Stella Rose piano, a public art piece that was located on Draper Road, was recently damaged and scrapped.
Angelica Ramos
Contributing Writer
BLACKSBURG- At Tuesday’s Blacksburg Town Council meeting, residents and members of the town council addressed the destruction of the “Stella Rose” piano, previously on Draper Street, that was recently broken near a construction site.
The Downtown Piano Project began in the mid 2010’s as a way to bring music, art and community joy into Downtown Blacksburg. Two Blacksburg residents, one of which was the artist who painted the piano, Rita Brame, and Hart Fowler, addressed the Blacksburg Town Council during citizen comments regarding the Stella Rose Piano.
“I recently worked with the Downtown Revitalization Committee,” Brame said, “to paint the piano on Draper Road. The piano was recently damaged during construction and, I’m here, my concern is that Blacksburg does not have a public arts policy and procedures. I just want to bring that to awareness.”
After Brame spoke, Hart Fowler, a pianist and editor of 16 Blocks Magazine, also addressed the destruction of the piano.
“Your town employees,” Fowler said, “did an amazing job not getting injured or injuring people, and to think you’re going to blame them for breaking the piano, with all the care, with all those bulldozers that weighed over two tons there. To say that they broke the piano, I have a hard time believing that they did, and I’d like to see the report.”
Council Member Susan Anderson read a statement regarding the history behind the Downtown Piano Project and vandalism towards some previous pianos related to the project. In her statement, Anderson referenced the Farmers Market Piano that was removed due to it being vandalized in the summer of 2022.
“In November of 2022,” Anderson read, “there was discussion about removing the piano currently on Draper Road, which had been damaged and had been in use for several years. Matteo, a graduate student, and several other students planned to locate another piano. This piano would be painted for better weather proofing and placed on Draper Road the following spring.”
Anderson, in her statement, recognized Fowler and Brame’s efforts in this public arts project in regard to the Stella Rose Piano. The community seems to still have questions regarding the damage done to this piano according to various social media posts and they hope for a satisfactory resolution soon.
“And certainly, there are going to be quirks,” Anderson said in her statement, “and problems with any piece of public art or performance art, but I think all these pianos have served their time and I know we’re going to have more pianos downtown in the future.”
