No guitar should be left behind, that’s what Guitars4Vets believes.
More than 50,000 guitar lessons and 5,000 guitars have been arranged by the nonprofit organization.
The University Club atop Symphony Towers in San Diego has a three-month exhibit on how guitars can transform lives. The proceeds from the exhibit, which features guitar fine art by eleven prominent U.S. artists, will support the nonprofit’s mission to help wounded veterans find new purpose through music.
Artists from California, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Minnesota, Virginia, New York, Maine and Illinois all donated their time to express their personal design aesthetic in support of those who sacrificed to defend our country. Many of the guitars were once viewed as unwanted. At the exhibit, which runs through October 23, they are presented as beautiful fine art pieces to help sponsor war veterans.
Taylor Guitars donated one of their new guitars to the exhibit. One of the guitars featured in the exhibit is an artistically transformed instrument.
According to the most recent statistics, there are hundreds of thousands of U.S. veterans who struggle with physical injuries.
Guitars can help with the healing process, according to a Guitars4Vets press release. Music helps to decrease anxiety, increase self-esteem, and reduce panic attacks.
Started by Milwaukee Guitar Instructor
Patrick Nettesheim, a Milwaukee guitar instructor, introduced Dan Van Buskirk, a Vietnam-era Marine, to Guitars4Vets.
Van Buskirk wanted to learn to play the guitar but felt the effects of combat would make it hard for him to succeed.
After just a few months working with Nettesheim, Van Buskirk said he rediscovered the strong spirit that helped him during his time in Vietnam.
Guitars4Vets has developed a guitar instruction program aimed at providing veterans struggling with physical injuries and other emotional distress a unique therapeutic alternative powered by the healing power of music
The organization provides free guitar instruction, a new acoustic guitar and a guitar accessory kit in a structured program run by volunteers, mostly through Department of Veterans Affairs facilities and community-based medical centers.
A research study of Guitars4Vets students showed a 22% improvement in symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and a 27% decrease in symptoms of depression after they began playing the guitar.
A Catalyst for Improvement
The mission of the organization is to have as many vets as possible have an opportunity to play the guitar.
$200 is the cost of sending each veteran through the Guitars4Vets program. There are 130 Guitars4Veterans chapters across the country, including one in San Diego.
All of the guitars in the University Club exhibit are being sold to raise money for Guitars4Vets. The transformed instruments will be released to the purchaser when the exhibit closes. The University Club is a private, membership-based social and business club, so the exhibit is not open to the public.
The exhibit and Guitars4Veterans can be found at www.Guitars4Veterans.org or by scanning the QR code on the poster.
Guitars4Vets
FOUNDED: 2007
FOUNDERS: Patrick Nettesheim and Dan Van Buskirk
HEADQUARTERS: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
BUSINESS: Nonprofit
CHAPTERS: 130 (including 10 in California)
WEBSITE: guitars4vets.org
CONTACT: (858) 448-4376
NOTABLE: Guitars4Vets is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to providing relief to struggling veterans through the healing power of music and community. The organization started after a guitar instructor was introduced to a Vietnam-era Marine vet.