An auction of guitar sculptures that have graced the Sunset Strip for the past year raised $52,280 to support arts and music education initiatives in Los Angeles.
The guitars, part of the Gibson GuitarTown installation, featured 18 ten-foot high guitars created by artists such as Shepard Fairey, FISK, John Kosh and Tristan Eaton. The sculptures were designed to celebrating a range of influential Sunset Strip musicians, including Stevie Nicks, The Doors, Buffalo Springfield, Jane’s Addiction and Van Halen. Proceeds will go to the Los Angeles Fund for Public Education’s “Arts Matter” campaign.
“What an incredible event! The proceeds from the GuitarTown auction are a shot in the arm for the Arts Matter campaign,” said L.A. Fund Executive Director Dan Chang. “People are stepping up and saying that arts education is critical for L.A. public school students. The proceeds from the event will support arts and music programs in Los Angeles Unified Schools, including many served in West Hollywood. Thank you GuitarTown team.”
The Los Angeles Fund for Public Education, founded by LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy and philanthropist Megan Chernin in 2011, supports ideas that can make a dramatic and direct impact on children’s lives and make sure those ideas have the support to be permanent. It recently launched the “Arts Matter” campaign to revitalize arts education in the nation’s second largest school district, which is comprised of more than 1,000 schools serving nearly 1 million students from Pre-K to adult, nearly 80 percent of whom live in poverty.
“We are thrilled that members of the community and businesses generously supported the Gibson GuitarTown charity auction and helped raise significant money in support of the LA Fund’s efforts,” said Sunset Strip Business Association executive director Todd Steadman. “We are thankful for the support of Gibson Guitar and are extremely grateful to the many artists who dedicated their time to create such wonderful pieces of art celebrating the Sunset Strip and the countless musicians who have helped shape this legendary music boulevard.”
One of the top selling guitars was Los Angeles-based artist Juliana Martinez’s “There’s Something Happening Here,” a mosaic tile guitar celebrating the music and influence of Sunset Strip band Buffalo Springfield, which sold for $17,000.
The Gibson GuitarTown on the Sunset Strip project originally launched in 2010 with 24 art guitars celebrating artists including Slash, Ozzy Osbourne, The Runaways and Mötley Crüe. These guitars were auctioned for charity in 2011 with 100 percent of the $54,360 in proceeds benefitting local charities Los Angeles Youth Network, West Hollywood Arts and Cultural Commission and West Hollywood Library.
Gibson GuitarTown on the Sunset Strip is supported by the Sunset Strip Business Association, Hornburg Land Rover, the City of West Hollywood and Visit West Hollywood. GuitarTown on the Sunset Strip is administered by the Gibson Foundation, the philanthropic division of Gibson Guitar Corp.
