The Ledge - Stevie contributing to public art project

Valley art project features large replicas of rock instruments
By Andrea Falkenhagen, Tribune
May 2, 2005

Phoenix Country Day School artists are ready to rock. The teens have spent the last few months creating a giant 10-foot-tall model of a Fender Stratocaster guitar.

Once completed, it will be one of 120 huge guitars that will decorate streets and parks in the Valley as part of a public art project.

Fender and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are asking local companies to sponsor the creation of the guitars, which will then be decorated by celebrity artists such as Stevie Nicks and Bob Seger.

In February, the guitars will be auctioned off to benefit Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Central Arizona.

Brian Hassett at Big Brothers/Big Sisters said he couldn’t estimate how much money the project would bring in, but said a similar auction in Cleveland at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame brought in roughly $1 million.

A guitar decorated by Yoko Ono sold for $105,000, he said.

Phoenix Country Day is the only school whose art department is participating in the project.

"I thought it was neat that they’ll be displayed all around town," said senior Jill Tse, 18, as she glued a piece of beach glass to the bottom of the guitar Thursday morning.

Waste Management has sponsored the school’s guitar, instructing students to artistically represent the theme "Renew, Reuse and Recycle."

The small group of student volunteers are decorating the fiberglass guitar with only recycled materials, explained Jim Cook, the chairman of the school’s visual arts department.

"We’ve got aluminum nailed here, old recycled batteries, broken glass and mirror glass, and the mosaic tiles are made of recycled materials," Cook explained.

Cook hopes to have the project completed by the end of the school year, when it will be placed in a recycling bin.

Students will add a set of wings, giving the appearance that the guitar is rising out of the bin into something new.

"The idea is emerging out of a bin of recycled materials. It’s all about rebirth — that new things can be created out of old materials," he said.

Using recycled materials for art projects, however, is not something new to the teachers at the school.

Students in sculpture classes learn to weld using steel from salvage yards, and students sometimes create collages or sculptures from used items they find outside, he said.

---

Sounds neat. Hopefully one of our AZ Ledgies can take a picture while it's on display?