The Art of Guitar

Art Guitars in process

The Art of the Guitar

This spring, a Mano Gallery will host The Art of the Guitar, an exhibition rooted in collaboration between students, educators, and the wider creative community.

The project begins in the Torrington High School wood shop, where students spend months building fully playable electric guitars by hand under the guidance of their teacher, Jared Sheikh, who leads the program and makes this work possible. Over time, pieces come together into instruments, each one shaped by the student who made it.

In total, more than 30 guitars will be made.

From there, the work expands into a more creative phase. Students begin to explore the guitar not only as an instrument, but as a surface, a form, and a starting point. With guidance, they move into transforming their instruments into Art Guitars, using paint, texture, and experimentation to develop pieces that are unique, expressive, and reflective of their perspective.

What makes this project especially meaningful is how it extends beyond the school.

Local artists are already working with donated guitars and cases, each choosing their starting point. Some are transforming instruments, while others are working with cases, approaching them as objects in their own right. Across both, the work moves in different directions. Some pieces remain playable. Others shift fully into sculpture.

These artist-created works will be raffled during the exhibition, with proceeds supporting the continued collaboration between the school, local artists, and a Mano Gallery, making it possible to present the work at full scale and expand opportunities for future projects.

This exhibition is not just about guitars.

It is about process, mentorship, and what becomes possible when a community comes together to create something larger than any one part.

Over the coming weeks, we will share more of that process, from the build, to the transformation, to the hands behind the work.