Kittitian Born Artist Paints Piano for Art Installation – Countdown to the Launch of Pan Am 2015 Games in Toronto, Canada

Toronto, 07/12/2012 — Kittitian born Eleanor Hendrickson is one of 41 artists selected to participate in the “Play Me, I’m Yours” Street Piano Project in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The project was launched on Tuesday, July 10, 2012 to promote the countdown to the Pan/Parapan American 2015 Games which will take place in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Forty-one pianos—each painted by a local, professional artist with roots in one of 41 Pan American countries—were unveiled for the first time in Canada and have been placed in accessible spaces across the city core. The public is encouraged to spontaneously break out and play a tune.

Organizers of the Pan Am Toronto 2015 Games chose Ms. Hendrickson to paint a piano on behalf of St. Kitts and Nevis. Ms. Hendrickson’s work features hand-painted images of St. Kitts and Nevis Carnival — including a moko-jumbie, carnival clown and masquerader. In St. Kitts, the masquerade is an art form and Carnival’s grand display of the cultural evolution that has taken place over the course of 300 years. Ms. Hendrickson was born in Basseterre and migrated to Toronto, Ontario, Canada from St. Kitts W.I. at an early age, along with her three siblings, Kittitian-born mother (Shirley Carty-Hendrickson) and Nevisian born father (Vernon Hendrickson). Ms. Hendrickson currently resides in Ontario.

Kittitians and Nevisians living in or visiting Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) are encouraged to play the St. Kitts and Nevis piano and upload their videos to the “Play Me, I’m Yours” website. Photos of individuals beside the piano can also be uploaded to the “Play Me, I’m Yours” website. The St. Kitts and Nevis piano is currently located at the TTC Downsview Subway Station (upper level).

Links:

The St. Kitts and Nevis piano can be viewed at http://streetpianos.com/toronto2012/pianos/ttc-downsview-station/

International locations can be viewed at http://www.streetpianos.com/