How to turn a piano into art

The original 1910 grand piano in the Congregational Church served for well over a century, but it was time. Local Willie Kelley daringly decided to dismantle the baby grand and reclaim the storied wood, “not as smart as church folks who’ve figured out they don’t wanna move a baby grand piano down the stairs.”

Willie chronicles the process in his blog at The Kelley World Tour. But what happened with the wood is where the story takes a turn… literally.

1910: The year the piano was built. Workers in the Emerson Piano Company in Boston signed and dated the parts they created. Craftsmen writing in beautiful penmanship that isn’t seen anymore.

Now the piano’s parts are available at September 23 Saturday Market as bowls, turned on Willie’s lathe. Each bowl has been lovingly handcrafted on Lummi Island, finished with orange oil and beeswax, with a laser-engraved statement about its origins on the underside. All proceeds will benefit the Lummi Island Congregational Church, and their new piano.

A screw hole from the piano wood appears in this bowl.