Cleveland Rocks! A Community Arts Project Presented by Epiphone Guitar
Cleveland Rocks is a community arts project that celebrates the unique artistic excellence and diversity of the city of Cleveland. Featuring Epiphone Les Paul guitars that are to be artistically designed by Ohio based visual artists and celebrities, this project will serve as an artistic reminder and display of Cleveland’s lush musical heritage and unwavering commitment to music that Rocks! Cleveland is the home of rock-n-roll, given the distinction of being the city which originally coined the phrase by Alan Freed. Once completed, the guitars will be exclusively exhibited in the Fall of 2009 at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, and subsequently auctioned off to raise funds for three local non-profit organizations: the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the Greater Cleveland Film Commission and the Cleveland Music School Settlement. This is a great opportunity to once again let the world know—Cleveland Rocks!
The project will showcase regional artists, musical artists, create partnerships in the community, promote tourism, and provide much needed funding for three local organizations. Once the exhibit has run for the selected amount of time, the guitars will be auctioned off in a gala event conducted by world-renowned Julien’s Auctions. The project is administered through the Gibson Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Gibson Guitar, which is dedicated to improving the quality of life through its support of the arts, education, health & welfare and environmental causes worldwide.
Epiphone Guitar and the Gibson Foundation, along with a steering committee made up of "Who's Who" in the city of Cleveland, and people who have had a role in the growth of the city, are honored to play a role in determining what artwork makes its way onto one of these incredible guitars. It is a simple concept, but one that will have a huge impact in the community and provide tremendous publicity and promotion for the visual artist.
For more information on Cleveland Rocks, interested parties can call the toll-free hotline at 1-877-886-7817 (ext. 2121), or go to the frequently updated http://ClevelandRocks.Epiphone.com.
Benefitting Non-Profit Organizations:
About the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum:
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a nonprofit organization that exists to educate visitors, fans and scholars from around the world about the history and continuing significance of rock and roll music. It carries out this mission both through its operation of a world-class museum that collects, preserves, exhibits and interprets this art form and through its library and archives as well as its educational programs.
About the Greater Cleveland Film Commission:
The Greater Cleveland Film Commission works to achieve increased economic development in Northeast Ohio by using the artistic and culturally enriching activities of film and other media production to strengthen the workforce, support the media production industry and attract media production to the region. It promotes the increase of media production using effective strategies for attraction and workforce development including building an artistic infrastructure through film.
About The Cleveland Music School Settlement:
The mission of The Cleveland Music School Settlement is to enrich the lives of people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities by offering access to high quality music instruction, music therapy and early childhood education. The Music Settlement was founded in 1912 by Almeda Adams with the support of the Fortnightly Musical Club and several of Cleveland’s leading families. Programs beyond instruction in music include a nationally acclaimed Music Therapy program and one of the most popular Early Childhood Education programs in Cleveland. Altogether, The Music Settlement brings music and the arts into the lives of approximately 2,700 people on an annual basis.
