Excited children packed the auditorium at PS 196 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to learn about their school’s new hand-painted piano at a ribbon-cutting ceremony and inaugural performance on Nov. 17. The piano, painted in stark black-and-white stripes by Brooklyn artist Jieun Yang, was donated by Sing for Hope, a nonprofit organization that aims to increase access to the arts in underserved schools and communities. “This piano is a contribution to a well-rounded education,” said Rob Bernstein, the magnet resource coordinator at PS 196, a UFT community learning school and a magnet school for communications and mixed media arts. “Literacy only speaks to one part of the person. The arts speak to the heart; they speak in a completely different way that’s not language dependent.” PS 196 is one of 50 public schools in the five boroughs to receive artist-designed pianos this year from Sing for Hope. All 50 pianos were gathered in Times Square as an interactive art installation before being sent to locales throughout the five boroughs so communities could enjoy them. PS 196’s piano spent three weeks at Paul Raimonda Park in Queens over the summer before reaching its final home at the school. “We have a lot of low-income families. This opens up a new bridge for them,” said Anthony Zalak, a magnet specialist and the school’s UFT chapter leader. Zalak said the piano will allow the school to add music education to its already strong arts program. The new piano will become part of a Saturday program to teach students how to play the instrument. “At first, the students had no idea why the piano was sent to us,” said teacher Roseann Randazzo, another magnet specialist, but “now, they’re very excited.”