After being in place for only a few hours on a warm afternoon in downtown San Jose, one of artist Luke Jerram’s outdoor pianos was getting a workout.

“It’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to play,” said 26-year-old San Jose waitress Mazel Brooks, who was performing “Stardust” on a piano at the Circle of Palms, next to the Fairmont Hotel. As the notes wafted across the city streets, she added, “This is fun. I’ve got to tell my friends about this.”

That piano is one of 20 placed by Jerram, a 35-year-old conceptual artist from Bristol, England, throughout the downtown area and at locations such as Santana Row. It is part of his “Play Me, I’m Yours” installation, an interactive art project like ones he has done in cities throughout the world. San Jose is only the second American location, after New York, where such stars as Alicia Keys were seen playing the pianos.

“This was designed for California and Silicon Valley,” said Jerram, fresh off a flight from Hungary, where he had placed pianos in the city of Pécs for a festival. “There is lots of creativity here, a lot of openness.”

RTWT