JazzFest 25 Guitar Art Project to Hit the Road

January 29th, 2016

The Sioux Falls Jazz and Blues JazzFest 25 Guitar Art Project will travel to Rapid City for public display in February. The guitars will be on exhibit at the Dahl Arts Center in Rapid City, SD from February 26th through March 26th.

In honor of the 25th Celebration of JazzFest in July 2016, the Sioux Falls Jazz and Blues (SFJB) began the JazzFest 25 Guitar Art Project. Artists throughout South Dakota have individually designed artwork on the canvas of a white Fender Stratocaster guitar. Each artist has been sponsored by a regional business. The guitars will be brought together throughout the year for public displays in Sioux Falls and the region leading up to the festival in July 2016.

The project is to not only join the music and art communities in Sioux Falls, but also help Sioux Falls Jazz and Blues bring awareness to incredible artists in the state, as well as celebrate the 25th JazzFest in 2016. “This is a milestone year for the festival and we wanted to not only find a way to celebrate all year long, but we thought about how to include visual artists into this project as well,”  Executive Director Robert Joyce states, “so it was exciting to take an iconic image such as the Fender Strat and give it to amazing artists throughout the region and watch them transform it into another piece of art.”

“I think a guitar by itself is a work of art. Add a coat of paint and a little creativity and it becomes special,” stated Sioux Falls artist Steve Brummond.

Additional dates for public viewing in 2016 will be released at a later date.

The Sioux Falls Jazz and Blues would like to thank the Sioux Falls Arts Council and South Dakota Arts Council for helping make this project possible. Additionally, a special thanks to the creative artists and their sponsors. Sponsors for the artists currently include CAPITAL Services, HenkinSchultz Creative Services, Hy-Vee, KELOLAND TV, Sanford Health, Midcontinent Communications, Townsquare Media/Results Radio, Vern Eide Motorcars, Metabank, Koch Hazard Architects, Wells Fargo, Nyberg’s Ace, Avera Health, Eide Bailly, Beth Ormseth, Face It TOGETHER, L.G. Everist, Inc., CNA Surety, CorTrust Bank, Lynn, Jackson, Shultz & Lebrun, Sammons Financial Group, TSP, Inc., and SFJB Board of Directors.