Guitarmania 2004

(Really Big Strats for a Really Good Cause)

Guitarmania II Encore 2004 was a public art work project follow-up to the highly successful Guitarmania 2000. Sponsored by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, United Way of Cleveland, and Fender Guitars, a contest to design a guitar was open to artists in the greater Cleveland area.      Paul Braden, owner of Woodsy’s Music in Kent, Ohio sponsored Rootstown artist Wayne Sheppard, a design finalist for the project.  Sheppard chose a theme “Rock Aid For the World” as a retrospective tribute to socially-conscious musicians who have donated time and money for numerous world events starting with The Concert for Bangladesh in 1971, Live Aid and Band Aid through the 80’s, and Farm Aid, Net Aid, Adopt-a-Minefield and other campaigns, including environmental fundraisers, through the 90’s and into the present. Sheppard received permission to weave several logos from Farm Aid and Net Aid into the blend of symbolic imagery he created in designing the guitar. The guitar design includes red white and blue peace symbols, and sections of flags from the Great Britain, Ireland, and the United States to represent the native countries of the musicians, and sections of flags from Bangladesh, Ethiopia and several other African nations that all received aid in regards to issues of poverty, aids, removing mines, etc.	Artist Wayne Sheppard and Paul Braden of Woodsy's at the Rock Hall
Symbolism of aid flowing into Africa is depicted as sound waves transforming into musical notes that gently rain upon the African continent. Other imagery includes a large rain forest tree with animals subtly blended into the canopy, and messages cryptically engraved into the tree bark. Other symbols of energy and life such as flowers, auras, waveforms, and an electrocardiogram balance out the lower part of the guitar. Faces of participating musicians, and faces of happy teenaged children of Bangladesh add to the collage type design. The planet earth appears near the headstock on the front, and again in a much larger image on the reverse side of the guitar, which lists a who’s who of performers, concert locations and years of performance. Two mysterious guitarists’ reflective silhouettes appear in  pastel  blue to complete the visual statement.      Wayne's wife, Hazel, suggested Wayne approached Paul to see if he might be willing to sponsor his design. Paul felt that the guitar design had a good message and intent and rang true with Woodsy's values.
The guitar design had been chosen with 88 others out of hundreds of entries, and was displayed at the Art Metro Gallery on Euclid Avenue in Cleveland. Artists receiving sponsors were then given the ten foot tall fiberglass guitars to create their works on. Wayne and Hazel brought the guitar home from Cleveland in their van and set up shop in their garage/studio. The guitars were provided with a welded steel stand that made it possible to rotate the guitar at different angles to be worked on. The guitar had to be sanded and primed in areas before the real design aspect of it could be started. Then over a two month period involving approximately two hundred hours of work, the guitar was completed and delivered by Paul and Wayne to a warehouse on Euclid Avenue, where it was stored awaiting its public debut for the Memorial Day Weekend. After that, guitars were placed all over the city of Cleveland for the duration of the summer, and then returned to the Key Plaza at the Rock Hall prior to the November United Way Auction. The guitar did make an appearance at the Kent Heritage Fest in July on behalf of the Portage County United Way and Woodsy’s Music. The guitar now has its home at Woodsy’s where it is hoped that its message and design will continue to pay ongoing tribute and thanks to all musicians everywhere that blend their musicianship with social consciousness.    Wayne Sheppard is an environmental artist, art teacher, art ed supervisor at Kent State University, and teaches classes at the Steinert Glass School and St. Joseph School in Randolph. He does artist residencies with high schools and has directed cultural exchanges with Costa Rica and Mexico. Visit Wayne at www.sheppart.com