The joy of "giving back" with whatever talents or gifts we've been given has been elevated to new heights for Autism Community Trust. This art guitar project began when I picked up my donated guitar from Celebrate Las Vegas/Autism Community Trust in early August. This page documents the progress from brand-new, straight-from-the-factory Fender Squier Guitar to finished art project. I am only 1 of 100 artists chosen to transform 100 donated guitars into art pieces that will be displayed during the holidays and then auctioned off to raise awareness and funds in support of individuals and families affected by autism. So very excited and honored to be part of such incredible community support for individuals and families living with autism. I love this project!!

http://www.autismcommunitytrust.com/
http://www.celebratelv.com/

SAVE THE DATE! Our Artists for Autism Art Show, Cocktail Reception and Auction will take place Friday, April 26, 2013 at the Lou Ruvo Brain Center, Las Vegas, NV. Our coffee table book, tshirts and poster will be available for purchase at the event. Details to follow!

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Artist’s Statement & The Story of an Art Guitar …
“Through the Haze, Dreams Take Flight”
(Artist: Nancy Good)

There are the usual challenges most adults understand (and they usually begin when the alarm clock goes off in the morning). Challenges such as getting ourselves motivated before we’re fully awake, choosing what to wear, deciding on breakfast, maintaining our patience through rush-hour traffic, prioritizing our priorities in whatever jobs we are focused on, earning enough to meet our financial obligations, finding time for our dreams/goals/hopes, etc. Add children to the mix, and those challenges rise even more: getting them out of bed, cleaned up, dressed, fed, lunches made and off to school, planning for activities when they’re not in school, making sure they are healthy and happy, and developing tools to reach their dreams/goals/hopes, etc. Now, add autism. Seemingly simple and mundane challenges take on a whole new meaning as an autistic child (at any place on the spectrum) handles them in entirely different ways. A child who used to be a well-behaved 4 year old, now is labeled as a problem child at age 5 by kindergarten teachers who don’t recognize that changes in behavior aren’t simply a matter of misdiagnosed “misbehaving.” This child’s parents are confused as well and try to cope as though it is just that … misbehaving. Punishments begin, the child becomes even more “misbehaved.” The child even gets expelled from kindergarten. Psychological testing begins, medical tests taken, behavioral counseling attempted … all clearly begin to fill in some blanks, but not all. This child is autistic. Everything changes.

When I first heard about the art guitar project being organized by Celebrate Las Vegas and Autism Community Trust, my first thoughts were for family members and friends who are living with autism. I have seen their lives turn topsy-turvy as they walk through their days in a haze, trying to cope with day-to-day living, while also realizing that the initial dreams they had for their children may or may not be a reality. I’ve seen parents wracked with guilt after punishing their undiagnosed child and then discovering weeks later that it really wasn’t a matter of misbehaving. Their child has been “exonerated” in a way, but has damage been done by teachers, care-givers, parents who missed the signs? I’ve held parents as they’ve cried … confused, broken-hearted, and at a loss as to the next steps. I’ve seen the clumsy steps at new approaches meant to help their child learn to cope with something as simple as playing in the water. And then I’ve seen wonderful and joy-filled pride when successes do happen … and they do, more and more, as more and more of the puzzle pieces are found. And as I pondered all of these things in my heart, I knew I wanted to be a part of anything that would help support other parents and individuals living with autism.

Being a guitarist, I also felt a strong kinship to the project from the very beginning. The ultimate goal for me was to create a work of art that would also remain playable as an instrument. I know first-hand how powerful music is as a way of reaching children and helping them cope when other methods are unsuccessful. For many years, I taught early childhood music and movement programs and experienced first-hand the positive impact they can have.

After picking up “my” guitar, there were many thoughts and questions that went through my mind. The first and to me, most humorous, was, “How in the world am I going to completely disassemble a guitar, do all the artwork, put it back together and have it still work?” I had never disassembled a guitar before. The second thought was, “Why in the world did I pick an electric guitar!?” Ultimately, the answers to both of these questions were provided throughout this incredible project.

As a mixed-media artist with a love of many subjects, I had to decide on how I was doing the art on the guitar. Was I going to paint the body and neck of the guitar? Was I going to do collages? Was I going to do image transfers? After considering so many different artistic approaches, I kept coming back to a series of art that I was working on at the time: a large mixed-media series involving hummingbirds as subjects.

As I considered hummingbirds, I realized they seemed the perfect subject for the art guitar. They are fearless, committed, devoted, curious, animated, loyal, colorful, captivating, mysterious and magical. They often get us thinking of them as being huge spirits in teensy bodies. They also often compel us to think of the impossible being possible. They allow us to dream and invite our dreams to take beautiful and fearless flight. THAT is the message I wanted to meld into the guitar with my art. THAT is the hope and the spirit that filled my own heart as I took apart this instrument to begin the process of transformation. And THAT is what stayed with me for the 200 hours I spent working on each piece of the guitar puzzle, so symbolic of the puzzle of autism.

Ultimately, the time came when the art side of the project was completed and it was time to put the pieces back together. As I reattached key components: the neck, the bridge, the pick-ups, the pick-guard, the strings … I maintained optimistic hope. I knew the guitar would play. I knew it would make music. What I didn’t know was the surprisingly wonderful transformation of the tone of the guitar. It came to me as a straight-from-the-factory Fender Squier/Strat copy. I had played it and knew its bright Strat sound prior to taking it completely apart. I also knew that during the art project, I had added layer upon new layer to the surface of its body and sealed it all before reassembly. So, when it was put back together, tuned and ready to plug into my amp, I really wasn’t sure what to expect. Here we go … STRUM!! PICK!!!! STRUM some more!!! I’m not one for using many anagrams, but I think I may have actually thought, “OMG!” Not only does the art guitar sound like the Fender Strat, but it now has the warmth and meatiness of a Les Paul. I kept playing … I played jazz, I played blues, I played children’s songs, I played gospel, I played country, I played rock, I played and played and played. To me, part of the process of creating this guitar was to pour love and hope and prayer and dreams into it through the art, but also through the music. It is infused through and through with all of these and then some.

My message to whoever eventually adds this guitar to their life? Play it, love it, and feel the hope that it represents. For truly, “Through the Haze, Dreams Take Flight.”