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Celebrities and area artists who will design and decorate 60 six-ft. tall fiberglass guitars for the Guitars for Hope public art project were announced today (December 14, 2005) by NFL Hall of Famer and former Buffalo Bills Quarterback Jim Kelly, WNED President and Chief Executive Officer Donald K. Boswell, and Nora McGuire, head of the Art Selection Committee.
Grammy and Country Music Award winner Lee Ann Womack heads the list of famous names that have signed on as of December 14. Others include NASCAR auto designer Sam Bass, Canadian guitarist/singer and founding member of Triumph Rik Emmett, Buffalo Philharmonic Music Director JoAnn Falletta, Law and Order star Jesse L. Martin, Meet the Press moderator Tim Russert, Entertainment Tonight anchorMark Steines, The Goo Goo Dolls’ Robby Takac, North American Rock Guitar Competition host/rock singer Queen V, the cast of CBS’s King of Queens, and the cast of NBC’s Las Vegas. Jim Kelly also will decorate a guitar. (Bios attached)
Many of the regional artists selected were present to unveil their designs for the project, which will benefit the Kelly for Kids Foundation, the Hunter’s Hope Foundation, and WNED.
“We are thrilled by the interest of all our artists, whose creativity will be enjoyed by the entire community and whose generosity will benefit three organizations that are important to the Buffalo area,” Boswell said.
Kelly said that the nationally recognized celebrity names “add extra excitement to the project and demonstrate their genuine support of our work on behalf of children and our commitment to find a cure for Krabbe disease and other leukodystrophies.”
Artists will transform the guitars into works of art and return them to WNED by April 1. The guitars will be displayed throughout the community in April and May. At a gala event on June 16 at WNED, all sixty guitars will be auctioned. Bidders may participate in person or online. The Guitars for Hope project will be chronicled in a documentary to be produced by Canisius College under the leadership of Dr. Barbara Irwin.
Artists Catherine Parker and Gerald Mead head the group of artists from Buffalo. Others are Chary Robbins, Phyllis Pequet, Jayro Mazagorias, Amy Cappelli, Carolyn McNamara, Cindy Teresa, Catherine Ward, father and son Joseph and Aric Verrastro, Crystaline Miller, Donna Duggan, Jocelyn Ingram, Lawrence Kinney, and Mae Shepard.
Also selected are artists Bill Wilson, Dottie Farrell, Niagara Falls; Bob Mroz, Elma; Susan Tomei, Lancaster; Brad Curcio, Tony Mauro, Sandra Cemulini, East Amherst; Peter Malamas, North Tonawanda; Mary Ellen Hanna, Angola; Kathy Fiete, Fairport; Angela Callisto, Clarence; Albert Gilewicz, Albert Sterbak, Amherst; Pam Stachowski, Springville; Jessie Incorvaia, Williamsville; Jerome Chesley, Orchard Park; and Michael LoVullo, Kenmore.
Students from three area schools will participate as artists – St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute, Lafayette High School, and Buffalo’s Olmsted School #56.
Among the names that artists have chosen for their designs are “Seasons of Hope,” “Snoopy Visits Buffalo,” “Sweet Tooth,” “Flamenco Guitar,” “Wright On,” “Garden Guitar,” “Hank Williams,” “Buffalo/Niagara Post Guitar,” “Route 66-Six Lane Highway,” “Guitar Rocker,” “Music City,” “Electric Avenue,” and “Fiesta Musaic.”
Jim Kelly is honorary chairman of Guitars for Hope. Ann Brooker, executive director of Kelly for Kids, and WNED Director of Special Events Wendy Diina Ceppaglia are project co-coordinators. BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York and Rite Aid are sponsors. C.F. Martin & Co. helped to design the prototype guitar, fashioned after the Martin D-28 guitar. Merlinworks of Etobicoke, Ontario, constructed the guitars.
The Kelly for Kids Foundation is committed to providing funding and support to children's charities throughout Western New York. These charities operate for the benefit of disadvantaged and handicapped youths and focus on children's needs and issues.
Hunter’s Hope Foundation is dedicated to increasing public awareness of Krabbe Leukodystrophy, and to helping support research, new therapies and a cure for the inherited, fatal nervous system disease that affected Hunter Kelly, the son of Jim and Jill Kelly. He died on August 5 at age 8. The Foundation also is a leading advocate for national newborn screening.
Through WNED-TV, ThinkBright TV, Classical 94.5/WNED-FM and WNED-AM 970 The Information Station, the member-supported Western New York Public Broadcasting Association provides high quality programming and services that enlighten, inspire, entertain and educate our communities.
In addition to Guitars for Hope, the 2006 WNED guitar special events will include the JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition (June 5 – 10) and the North American Rock Guitar Competition (June 19). Many of the world's finest guitarists have visited Buffalo and performed here under the auspices of WNED’s guitar-related events.
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