The Sunset Strip is sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll.  It has been for as long as anyone can remember.  After years and years of such wear and tear, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that it might need a teensy weensy bit of tender love and care.  Fortunately The Sunset Strip Business Association has its back.  The committee kicked off the $5.4 million Sunset Strip Beautification Project in January 2010, giving West Hollywood a facelift with improvements such as replacing faulty traffic signals, repaving the boulevard for the first time in 75 years, planting new trees, making parking meters credit card accessible, etc…  The official “re-opening” of The Strip took place on Thursday, August 12th, with the unveiling of one final touch, GuitarTown, a public art project featuring 26 ten-foot tall fiberglass Les Paul model guitar sculptures that were donated by Gibson, decorated by local artists, and scattered all over the strip.

Around 5:00pm, the artists gathered in front of The Comedy Store for some cocktails and mingling festivities.  I caught up with Nick Adams, who was responsible for the Prince of Darkness guitar, a tribute to Ozzy Osborne that is currently sitting outside of The Comedy Store.  Adam explained that his piece is a composite of three different pictures: a castle wall in Paris, gargoyles, and in the middle, a girl playing guitar with red lights shining on her which he then morphed into a sort of shroud.  “I really made sure to work hard to capture the heaviness of the assignment,” stated Adam.  West Hollywood Mayor, John Heilman, was introduced to explain that GuitarTown “is one more reason for people to come up and see what is new on the Sunset Strip.”  A portion of the strip then closed and a giant ribbon was stretched across the street.  A slew of classic cars lined up behind the barrier, anxious to triumphantly drive thru while awaiting a slight delay, as the scissors appeared to be temporarily missing in action.  Once resolved, Mayor Heilman was handed a gargantuan tool and sliced thru the ribbon.  Life returned to normal on the strip as everyone headed down to The Rainbow Bar and Grill for a press conference to follow.

Food, drinks, and guest appearances by the gifted artists and some of the talent that the pieces were inspired by engulfed the courtyard of The Rainbow.  Brian Wilson was introduced and then walked over to sign his guitar, as did The Runaways own Cherie Currie, who expressed her enthusiasm for The Runaways guitar.   “This is so neat.  I’m a carver.  That’s what I do for a living – a chainsaw carver.  I just carved a guitar for Dakota Fanning’s 16th birthday – a Gibson, just like that but regular size – standard size.  And so I know what is means to put your heart and soul into something and to gift it.  It takes a very special person to do that and I think Sophie did just an amazing job.”  It’s incredible you know, that The Runaways – we’re being recognized 35 years later.” Chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar was quoted as saying, “Like Gibson Guitar, The Sunset Strip is legendary.  It’s also responsible for launching the careers of some of the world’s greatest musicians.  We are so pleased to be part of The Sunset Strip project and look forward to hosting GuitarTown in what will surely strike a chord with everyone who visits the Sunset Strip.

Like an instrumental edition of Where’s Waldo, giant Gibsons can be found all over the Sunset Strip.  I did a lap and saw a splendid Kiss guitar with the band’s faces plastered upon it, complete with flames and (of course) a large Gene Simmons tongue.  A “Summer of Love” guitar outside of The Standard pays homage to the hippies with butterflies, blinged out peace signs, smiley faces, and “All You Need is Love” sprawled across the center.  Outside of the House of Blues I passed the “Mystic Musicians” guitar appearing to almost dangle from a nearby palm tree.  The area in front of the Rainbow/Roxy is guitar-saturated – They are all over the strip.  How fitting for the boulevard walked by so many rock stars to be decorated with 26 reminders of rock’s most notorious home.

Words by Nicole Pajer.  Photos by Dustin Downing