The Rockin’ to RAGBRAI public piano, painted by local air-brush artist Tony Sims, will be moved to the Bell Tower plaza this Friday, May 26.
The piano was unveiled at the RAGBRAI logo reveal party April 23. The Tower View Team of Jefferson Matters: Main Street asked Sims to created a RAGBRAI-themed piano because of the July 23 RAGBRAI overnight in Jefferson.
At the unveiling, Sims shared that since RAGBRAI is more about people than anything else, he decided to decorate the piano with portraits of people associated with RAGBRAI.
Some of the faces are local, such as Chuck Offenburger and Don and Jean Van Gilder, who were co-chairs of the 2008 RAGBRAI overnight in Jefferson. Iconic RAGBRAI personalities of John Karras and Donald Kaul are painted on the front of the piano. Sims’ air-brush technique allows him to create extraordinary likenesses.
The Rockin’ to RAGBRAI piano will be moved to the Bell Tower plaza on Friday, May 25, as the Mahanay Memorial Carillon Tower will open on Saturday for regular daily hours of 10 am – 4 pm through the end of September. Residents and visitors are invited to stop at the tower to view or tinkle the ivories of this new piece of art in downtown Jefferson.
This is the fourth public piano created for the Tower View Team to draw people to the downtown.
