Artist-modified pianos are scattered around University City to June 17, waiting for a public with itchy fingers. When the project Heart & Soul launched Wednesday night, June 6, the eight transformed pianos looked so inviting that people of all ages sat down to play. Say you make it your mission to play every one of them, you can find the map of the locations at universitycity.org/heart-soul. Here’s a 1.5-minute video of what I saw at the launch.

The pianos are a borrowed idea–New York and Lancaster, PA beast us to the punch. But as public art, they far outshine those inert, painted dogs, cows and dolphins that “ornament” so many cities. So three cheers for the quality of the artists (best of show is Kali Yuga Zoo Brigade’s Phantom-of-the-Opera-ish construction, which includes Nathan Wilson and Daniel Dalseth, and according to program notes, Marc Zajack, Dante Blackstone and SS Astral Naught). And three cheers for the interactivity and the music. Bravo.