First, in 1984, there was Band Aid, a collective of British pop stars who joined together to bring worldwide attention to the effects of Ethiopia’s famine. Less than a year later, Live Aid united the biggest names in rock music for an incredible 16 hours of music, raising $100 million for famine relief in Ethiopia. Both were orchestrated by musician Sir Bob Geldof.
Since the mid-80s, a series of socially-conscious rockers have used music as a way to unify people and bring attention to both global and local issues. Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, and Neil Young formed Farm Aid, a group of artists committed to helping America’s farming families survive. Nonprofits such as the Rainforest Alliance and NetAid were also launched with great musical fanfare, bringing together musicians to highlight pressing issues affecting our world.
Artist and activist, 57-year-old Wayne Shepard, a native Ohioan, wanted to pay tribute to the singers and musicians who have leveraged their fame to help others. Guitar Mania: Encore in 2004 is a Cleveland-based initiative that unites artists to leave their creative mark on 10-foot-tall fiberglass Fender® Stratocaster® guitars sponsored by companies, organizations and individuals. Proceeds from the sale of these guitar sculptures, auctioned off at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, benefit United Way, a national organization that works to support communities nationwide, and the Hall of Fame’s education fund.
Wayne dubbed his sculpture “Rock Aid for the World”, honoring rock stars who have contributed to the world through their music. To get the information he needed to make the guitar complete, he hit the web.
“As I was doing research, I found out that others carrying the torch since Band Aid and Live Aid included Farm Aid and NetAid. That’s when I found that Bono (lead singer of U2, an Irish rock band) had performed to launch NetAid,” explains Wayne. “I also included Sting, who put together a concert for the Rainforest Alliance, and Paul McCartney, who supported Adopt-a-Minefield. I wanted to do a tribute to the musicians, but also the organizations who are working to make a better world.”
On the front of the 10-foot sculpture, he painted the musicians’ likenesses and individual concert and organization logos, and he listed information about each musical event on the back. The NetAid logo is featured prominently in an artistic rendition on the front of the guitar.
Wayne submitted his idea for a guitar sculpture and was notified of its acceptance for the GuitarMania auction. He gained the requisite $7,500 sponsorship for his guitar from Woodsie’s, a local guitar shop, and has now completed the sculpture, which will be on display at a local heritage festival.
An art teacher for the past 30 years, Wayne admits that he once flirted with the idea of having a lifelong musical career. “I was a Rock musician back in the late 60s. My biggest claim to fame was that my band, the Four o’ Clock Balloon, opened for Jimi Hendrix when he played in Cleveland.”
Although his stint as a rock star came and went, his passion for art—creating and teaching it—has soldiered on. Just as the musicians he tributes, Wayne believes in more than creating art for art’s sake. “I’m at a point in my life where it’s hard for me to get involved in too many things unless they have a meaning and message that helps others. For me, my art is aimed at creating things in a thought-provoking manner.”
Taking part in GuitarMania is certainly not Wayne’s first foray into creating art for a good cause. In 2001, Wayne created an enamel sculpture for QERC, the Quetzal Education Research Center in Costa Rica. “The Quetzal is the national bird of Guatemala, and a special part of Latin American history,” says Wayne, who is an avid environmentalist. He has also painted a mural for the Acron Children’s hospital in Ohio.
“I think as long as you have a youthful motivation, and you’re out there doing something in positive way, I can’t imagine a better way to spend my life. I retired in 2002, but I just can’t use that word,” he says. “It doesn’t fit me.”
