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Four colorful, bell-tone flowers have sprouted on the front lawn of the Carnegie Cultural Center as an addition to the Luverne Street Music lineup of instrumental learning.
Four metal flowers — yellow, blue, orange and purple — appear to be sculptures, but they’re functional instruments, with each petal carrying its own bell tone when struck by a mallet.
The outdoor instruments, made by Freenotes Harmony Park, Durango, Colorado, are bolted into concrete along the Carnegie front sidewalk,
The 4-foot-tall flowers were donated by Gary and Janine Papik.
“This is something that Gary’s wanted to do for quite some time after seeing the Harmony Park instruments in Okoboji,” Janine said.
“They really are neat. I think it kind of makes for a grand entrance at the Carnegie.”
According to the Freenotes Harmony Park website, the instruments have no wrong notes, allowing anyone to create and play music.
Each flower carries a different part of the scale, the blue and orange flowers in the treble clef and the purple and yellow flowers in the bass clef. Playing them together creates harmony and encourages exploration and music making.
The instruments were installed several weeks ago, but they made their public debut during the Chamber’s brown bag lunch outdoor musical series on July 16.
Later that night, the Papiks introduced them to Luverne City Council members as a gift to the city, and after a brief demonstration, Janine let council members try out the instruments to the tune “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” under her direction.
The bell-tone flowers are given in honor of their parents and are intended to encourage musical creativity in children.
“It’s the perfect thing to do for Luverne Street Music,” Gary Papik said. “What’s better for children? … It gets everyone in a better frame of mind.”
The Papiks said they hope their donation encourages other Luverne residents to consider donating similar outdoor instruments to the community.
“The community’s been very good to both of us, and we want to give back,” Janine said.