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Art project strums with guitar designs
(by Sue Hoffman - March 31, 2010)
Art project strums with guitar designs
By SUE HOFFMAN
A glittering guitar signed by actor and musician "Little Steven" Van Zandt kicked off an art project that involved every student at St. Joan of Arc School in Chagrin Falls.
"When they saw that, their imaginations took off," art teacher Bonnie Tanko said. The special guitar, entitled "Patriotic Rock," was decorated by Cleveland artist Billy Nainiger.
Supplied by Gibson Guitar, the embellished instrument served as an example of what the students were about to do. Each grade level from kindergarten through eighth grade decided on a theme and decorated a guitar, with every student contributing to the finished product.
The nine guitars are among 70 on display in a free Cleveland Rocks! exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland and will be included in a global catalog of the project. All of the guitars in the exhibit have been designed as pieces of playable or nonplayable art, and many are signed by famous musicians. They will be auctioned off at a gala event by Julien's Auctions, of Los Angeles, on June 3. Money raised will be donated to three local nonprofit organizations, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the Greater Cleveland Film Commission and the Music Settlement.
The community art project, supported by Epiphone Guitar and its parent company, Gibson Guitar, celebrates the artistic excellence, musical heritage and diversity of the city of Cleveland. The exhibit features guitars that are artistically designed by Ohio-based visual artists and celebrities.
St. Joan of Arc School and the Music Settlement were the schools that participated. In return for St. Joan students' efforts, Gibson Guitar is donating several musical instruments to the school. In addition, judges from Gibson Guitar, the Rock Hall and film commission will decide on the winning guitar from the school, and that class will take a field trip to the museum aboard the official Gibson tour bus in support of music education. All classes will receive tours of the bus.
Students produced a variety of themes, ranging from a "Teddy Bear's Picnic" to "Hope for Haiti."
"Our class agreed to do LeBron James," eighth-grader Jack Grbac said. Students put the word "witness" on the front, along with Le Bron's shoe symbol and the word "Cavs" and a picture of a basketball on the back. All is painted in black and white.
In the seventh grade, "their design led to the theme," Mrs. Tanko said. Entitled "Fair Play," the guitar features stripes that reminded students of a referee's shirt and other bright colors.
"Our class plays a lot of sports, and we like to play fairly," seventh-grader Faith Galloway said about the theme.
Sixth-graders transformed their guitar into a tribute to Haiti. Entitled "Hope for Haiti," the guitar has buildings and palm trees toppling from an earthquake, and the strings are jumbled. The back contains a decoupage of pictures of the Haitian children.
Fifth-graders covered their guitar with peace symbols and titled it, "Give Peace a Chance." Fourth-graders decorated their guitar in army camouflage and an American flag. "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" was the theme of the third-grade guitar, decorated in an array of colors and bluebirds. "Believe" was the title of the guitar designed by second-graders, who represented their faith with clay fish, underwater plants and a deep-blue sea.
First-graders' "Teddy Bear's Picnic" features clay ants and lady bugs in a variety of sizes, a picnic tablecloth, pipe cleaner treetops and pint-size teddy bears. Kindergartners produced a "Grown with Love" theme by sponge-painting the guitar with flowers and attaching a watering can on top.
"I'm happy they're all going down to the Rock Hall, and not just one class," Mrs. Tanko said about the guitars.
To reserve tickets for the gala auction, contact the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.
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