| Austin GuitarTown Gives Sneak Peak of 10 Foot Guitar Sculpture Designs Scheduled to Exhibit Throughout City Caroline Galloway - Tuesday, August 22, 2006 |
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Three Artists Share Their Designs In Progess With Photography and Words AUSTIN, TEXAS-August 22, 2006- Austin GuitarTown announces an exclusive sneak peak of several 10 foot guitar sculpture designs before the official unveiling in the Fall. Three artists, Dianne Sonnenberg, Alison Gregory, and Gordon Jones allowed cameras to see their spectacular designs in progress. Photos attached for press purposes. Dianne Sonnenberg is a professional mosaic artist from Austin, TX. The title of her piece is “Striking Texas Gold.” While she works with a variety of mosaic materials, Dianne’s preferred medium is glass. She hand-shaped most of her pieces to create detailed precision in her work, and delights in experimenting with color, materials, shapes, light and design. "Ever since I saw the Cow Parade in Chicago, I've wanted to participate in a project like GuitarTown-Austin", states Sonnenberg. Austin based artist, Allison Gregory has been painting for over 20 years. Her work can be seen all over Texas, as she was recently named the official artist of the Texas Folk Life Festival as well as commissioned as the official artist for a chain of Texas based restaurants. Her piece is called “A Taste of Texas Tunes,” which is a vibrant piece that features everything from a red chili pepper and full margarita glass, to popular Austin symbols as a guitar and the University of Texas logo. Allison explains “I wanted to paint the guitar with a wild, offbeat colorful style...Something that embodied not only how I how I feel about Texas, but about the excitement and liveliness of Austin. I am hoping that this is endearing to native Texans, and transplants alike for that matter...To me, the symbols and iconography scattered throughout the piece, portray the spirit and character of Texas.” The third artist is Gordon Jones, who has worked as an elementary school arts teacher is Austin for the past 8 years. Although his piece in untitled it is a very unique approach. Gordon wanted to represent what a guitar would see if it had eyes and features a hand with pick in mid-strum, the Austin skyline and fans looking up at the stage. . Jones adds “I have done a lot of research to capture what a guitar would see if it was in concert on Town Lake. Painting on such a large a multi-leveled surface has been a big, but entertaining challenge.” The official unveiling of the artistically created and designed Gibson guitar sculptures will be held in early Fall 2006. All guitar sculptures will be placed throughout Austin in front of the city's landmarks and businesses and inside viewing locations until mid-2007. Various companies and corporations will be asked to serve as sponsors of the project which will serve as an artistic reminder and display of Austin's great musical heritage. In addition, celebrities will be paired with a majority of the visual artists. The guitar sculptures are being offered for sponsorship on a first-come, first-serve basis. Any organization wishing to sponsor a guitar can go to www.austinguitartown.com for details and would be entitled to have that sculpture displayed at a city location of their choice among other benefits. At the culmination of the project, the sculptures will be auctioned off at a star-studded Auction Gala Event as well as an international on-line auction with famed Julien’s Auctions. All of the proceeds from the project will benefit four local charities: the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM); The Austin Museum of Art (AMOA); American Youthworks; and the Austin Children's Museum. Other similar projects throughout the country have risen over $1/2 million for charity. The GuitarTown project will be administered through the Gibson Foundation www.gibson.com/foundation, a Division of the Gibson Guitar Corp., which is dedicated to improving the quality of life through its support of the arts, education, health & welfare and environmental causes. For sponsorship details or more information, please call (512) 692-4191 or visit www.austinguitartown.com Media Contacts: For hi resolution images associated with this article and official GuitarTown Austin logos, go here. |
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