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Christopher's Story Overcoming the challenge of autism to find a job where his talents shine .... MORE |
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May 9, 2007 (Cleveland, Ohio) United Way of Greater Cleveland's GuitarManiaŽ, the public art project that rocked Cleveland in 2002 and 2004, returns to the city in a kickoff event at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum on May 25 at 11:30 a.m. The project consists of oversize FenderŽ StratocasterŽ guitars that are creatively transformed into works of art by local artists and national celebrities and displayed on the city streets of Cleveland for residents and visitors to enjoy from May 29 through August 2007. Corporations, organizations and individuals sponsor and select from more than a hundred local artists to paint, sculpt or decorate the 9-foot-tall guitars. Celebrity artists are also recruited to paint and decorate guitars. At the end of the display period the guitars are auctioned at a gala event at the Rock Hall, unless the corporate sponsors buy back their guitars for permanent display at their companies. To date, 70 guitar sponsors have committed to the project, and include celebrity guitars from Doors guitarist Robby Krieger; NASCAR drivers Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Michael Waltrip and Rusty Wallace; NASCAR artist Sam Bass and renowned Beatles artist Shannon. All of the guitars will be on display together at the Rock Hall from May 25 to 28, and will then be moved to individual locations throughout the city's streets during the summer until Labor Day, when they will be returned to the Rock Hall for the last six weeks of display before the auction. The previous two GuitarMania events raised over $1.6 million, benefiting United Way of Greater Cleveland and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum's education fund. SuperSponsors Eaton Corporation and KeyBank are joined by project sponsors Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, Clear Channel, Cleveland Magazine, cleveland.com, Continental Airlines, Convention & Visitors Bureau of Greater Cleveland, The Plain Dealer, Sherwin-Williams and Turner Construction. For more information about GuitarMania, please contact Matt McManus at 216-436-2122 or mmcmanus@uws.org or Michelle Battle at 216-436-2121 mbattle@uws.org. General information about GuitarMania can be found at GuitarMania's Web site cleveland.com/guitarmania. United Way of Greater Cleveland is a leader in addressing health and human service needs through convening partnerships, funding programs and generating resources to support our community's priorities. United Way is one of the largest non-governmental funders of health and human services in Greater Cleveland, supporting 176 programs provided by 135 partner agencies. Each year, over 400,000 Greater Clevelanders are helped by United Way-funded programs. |
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