Gibson, along with the City of Orlando, announced a special Orlando GuitarTown Concert and Event to take place Saturday, Sept. 20, 2008 from 3 – 8 p.m. at Orlando City Hall.
The Honorable Mayor Buddy Dyer will officially kick off the Orlando GuitarTown project in grand style and unveil the ten-foot tall Gibson Guitar sculptures in a special event downtown sponsored by Widmeer Beer and WMMO Radio. All guitar sculptures will be on display for the very first time. The public will have a chance to view the art guitars and meet the visual artists in attendance. After this special unveiling the sculptures will be placed around the City Beautiful as part of a multi-week display. The ten-foot Gibson Guitar sculptures will be featured outside of City Hall and the showcase Epiphone Guitars will be displayed inside City Hall for this special concert event and then moved to their assigned locations throughout the city.
To celebrate the official launch of Orlando GuitarTown, the City of Orlando has produced a free concert featuring popular local bands. Performances from Big
10-4, John Frank, Gerry Williams Band, Christian Wilson & the Wayward Sons and Thomas Wynne & The Believers are scheduled. The free concerts are open to all ages and free to the public. After the launch the committee will produce a map that will be available on line or in various tourist locations which will feature the locations of each guitar and sculpture.
The Orlando GuitarTown project is a public arts project featuring ten-foot tall fiberglass Gibson Les Paul model guitars and a series of regular size showcase Epiphone guitars painted by local and regional visual artists. Each will be placed throughout Orlando in front of city landmarks, sponsor locations and other popular destinations. The project unites the Orlando art, music and business communities and will benefit local charities. The culmination of the project will come in 2009 with an all-star live auction hosted by world renowned Juliens Auctions. For information on Orlando GuitarTown go to http://www.orlandoguitartown.com/ or call the toll-free hotline at 1-866-321-4212. The project is administered by the Gibson Foundation.