La PORTE — A ceremony to mark the installation of five large-scale percussion instruments in public places across the city, scheduled for Oct. 27, will celebrate the community’s passion for art and music, organizers say.
The Joyful Noise Project will provide opportunities for children to discover “unexpected play” in the community, according to City Council member Laura Cutler, former executive director of La Porte County Symphony Orchestra and one of the organizers of the project. With any luck, residents and visitors alike will find a few moments of fun banging on the structures, she said.
It's the same idea behind the new Plaza 618 at Lincoln Way and Monroe Street.
La Porte Symphony Orchestra music director Philip Bauman said the Joyful Noise Project blends well with the mission of the orchestra. By coincidence, the ribbon-cutting and reception at the Civic comes at the same time as a previously scheduled rehearsal of the orchestra before its annual Halloween concert.
“I think it’s great,” Bauman said. “In a fun and public way, this project raises awareness about music and art in the community. Hopefully it will pique some curiosity when people see this sculpture in the lawn and realize they can play it.”
City planner Beth Shrader more than a year ago enlisted Cutler to begin drafting plans for a music-based community project so they could apply for a Play Everywhere Challenge grant sponsored by KaBoom, a national not-for-profit organization focused on bringing active play into the daily lives of children.
The idea to populate La Porte with large-scale “sound structures” made it to the finals of the contest, and received an award, but even the scaled-back project still had a long way to go before reaching its $26,000 funding goal, Cutler said.