The Parker Arts, Culture and Events (PACE) Center has selected an outdoor Harmony Park musical classroom as an interactive public art exhibit at the new building. The Harmony Park instruments will be installed on PACE’s East Patio before the PACE Center opens in the fall of 2011. Harmony Park is created by the Freenotes Company of Hesperus, CO, and its instruments are in communities nationwide. The PACE Center’s installation will be the first in the Denver Metro area.
Harmony Park is a collection of metal instruments that enable non-musicians to play music solo or in a group. These outdoor wind and percussion instruments are weatherproof and designed to be played together easily because they are tuned to the pentatonic scale. There are no wrong notes, all of the sounds are harmonious and knowledge of music, keys or scales is not necessary. The sounds are mellow and ethereal so as not to disturb others.
“One of the best things about these instruments is that they provide all ages and abilities an opportunity to interact through spontaneous creative expression,” said Jeannene Bragg, the PACE Center’s Cultural Director. “All instruments are wheelchair accessible, and they can even be a tool for music therapy to improve cognitive ability, communication and motor skills.”
The instruments are based on traditional instruments from Indonesia and Africa and will help students learn about world cultures and music education. The instruments will also be used for outdoor concerts and classes.
The Town of Parker is committed to its public art program and has dedicated 1% of the construction budget to public visual art surrounding the PACE Center. The Harmony Park interactive musical exhibit is the first of many installations that the Art in Public Places Committee has recommended to Parker’s Town Council. More public art will be installed throughout this year and into 2012.
Located in historic downtown Parker, the PACE Center will be home to a 500-seat theater, 250-seat amphitheater, art gallery, event room, dance studio, culinary kitchen and several classrooms. PACE will provide a wide variety of local, regional and national cultural, arts, scientific and educational programming to the region and serve as a rental venue for community, business and social events.
For more information about the PACE Center, visit www.PACEcenteronline.org.