By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
TRIBECA — Isaac Mizrahi dresses a piano just like he would dress a woman: with sparkle and flair, in a single slimming color.
The designer unveiled his playful pink piano Tuesday afternoon, in a TriBeCa warehouse where artists are decorating a total of 88 pianos that will be scattered around the city next week for the public to play for free.
"Doesn't she look great?" Mizrahi said as he stroked his piano's oversized pink mesh bow. "Think of her as a size 16…. Not only does the piano look beautiful, but she looks really thin."
Mizrahi said he decided to design the piano — named "Hello Miss Piano," after "Hello Kitty" — when he heard about Sing for Hope, the organization behind the piano project, which brings art and music to underserved communities yearround.
"It gives the gift of music," said Camille Zamora, founder of Sing for Hope, standing with Mizrahi behind his piano.
"And the gift of glitter," Mizrahi added.
Starting June 18, the pianos will be on display for two weeks in public spaces all over the city, from Battery Park to Inwood Hill Park. Anyone can sit down to play the pianos, and volunteers will look after the instruments, locking them up at night and covering them when it rains.
Once the project ends on July 2, Sing for Hope will donate the pianos to schools, hospitals and other community facilities that need them.
Sing for Hope did a similar, but smaller, project last summer with British artist Luke Jerram.
Jerram, who has launched the public piano project in 18 cities around the world, said he was not asked to be involved in the New York version this year, and he is angry that Sing for Hope is using his idea.
"It is incredibly difficult to survive as a professional artist and I am baffled as to why Sing for Hope have decided to present my work without me," jerram said in a statement to DNAinfo.
His concerns were first reported by the New York Times.
Sing for Hope released a statement saying they and Jerram mutually agreed to part ways, and that he is not the first or the only artist to do public art projects involving free pianos.
The professional artists who volunteered to design the pianos this summer also include fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg, who opted for a chic black-and-white theme, and the crochet artist Olek, who draped her piano and bench in multicolored yarn.
Jen Mazer, 29, an East Village artist, painted her piano with the bright patterns found on the Ndebele tribe's houses in South Africa. Each of the symbols in the design has a different spiritual meaning, which she hopes will cheer those who play and listen to the piano in the future.
"It's nice to think about the healing power of music," Mazer said.
