Giant guitars delivered to downtown Waukesha

When Waukesha found out it was going to be a Gibson GuitarTown city a few weeks ago, officials knew everything in the process would be quick.

The latest step in this process took place on Tuesday when 10, 10-foot tall guitars were delivered to Spring Artisan Village, 521 Wisconsin Ave., in Waukesha.

"This is part of the building of excitement," said Norm Bruce, owner of Martha Merrell's Books and Cafe in downtown Waukesha. "It's coming together quickly."

In addition to the guitars coming to Waukesha, there was another announcement earlier this week.

Originally, the project called for 20 Les Paul fiberglass guitars - 10 playable and 10, 10-foot tall guitars - to be placed throughout downtown Waukesha.

But Bruce, who is one of seven members on Waukesha's Gibson GuitarTown Project steering committee selected by Mayor Jeff Scrima, said Monday that Gibson will now donate five more playable guitars to the project to bring the total of playable guitars to 15.

The committee also originally said that they wanted all the guitars to be on permanent display downtown, but Bruce said these extra five guitars will be auctioned off on May 31 - one day before the rest of the guitars will be revealed.

Bruce said this is a way to raise more money for local charities. The other Gibson GuitarTown cities primarily auction off all their guitars after a short time on display in the city.

But Bruce added that deciding if the guitars are permanent or not in downtown Waukesha is up to the Waukesha GuitarTown committee.

"That's been our decision, because we look at it as being a public art project," Bruce said. "We think it's important to have them permanently on display."

Bruce said the committee is seeking sponsorships for each guitar and said the committee hasn't come up with a final figure, but said the 10-foot tall ones could cost around $10,000 per guitar. He added companies can join together to sponsor one if they choose.

"We're putting the finishing touches on a budget in the next week or two weeks," Bruce said. "We want to have a sum of money go to charities, so we're trying to get as many people engaged as possible."

No matter the cost, Bruce is confident the committee will find the sponsors.

"From the start there has been a buzz around this project," Bruce said. "There are people starting to ask about this project, so we won't have a problem with sponsorships."

The New Day in Waukesha fund is also pitching in as it is giving $15,000 to the project after Gibson said it was donating all of the regular-sized ones and three of the 10-foot tall ones.

The guitars will be painted by local and regional artists and Almont Gallery owner Lynn Gaffey, also a member of Waukesha's Gibson GuitarTown steering committee, said she has heard from 25 interested artists as of Monday afternoon.

She expects to hear from more in the coming weeks and will be making selections soon.

"We expect the interested parties to increase once we have the guitars in," Gaffey said.

A majority of the artists Gaffey said want to design the 10-foot tall guitars, but she said those who don't get selected for those 10, will be given the other 15.

"A lot of people want the big ones," said Gaffey, who explained interested artists can contact her at (262) 542-1522. "But we have a lot of talented local artists and they'll have no problem coming up with great designs."

Once the regular-sized guitars are painted, they will be sent back to Nashville, Tenn., to get strings attached to them before they are returned to Waukesha.

All of the guitars will then be revealed for the June 1 ceremony, a week before Les Paul's birthday and the first day of the Friday Night Live weekly music summer concerts.