Concord is first East Bay city to launch art project

Concord will celebrate 20 years of music programs at Todos Santos Plaza in downtown Concord. To mark the occasion, the City and the Todos Santos Business Association are launching a public art project, “Concordstock.” The name alludes to the 1969 music festival Woodstock, where many of the most influential musical groups of the era performed.

“By the May 2, 2008 opening concert at Todos Santos Plaza, look several dozen three-foot tall, beautifully painted guitar sculptures on display in businesses around the plaza,” reports Downtown Coordinator Florence Weiss.

“Concordstock” guitar sculptures will each be sponsored by a local business and painted by a local artist. At the end of the summer, the guitars will be auctioned off for charity.

Similar programs in other cities around the country have featured painted cows, carousel horses, pigs, antique cars and dozens of other figures. Painted hearts were the focus of San Francisco’s project, conveying the theme “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.”

Concord is the first city in the East Bay to offer the community this type of public art project. An unpainted sample guitar was unveiled Saturday night, Dec. 1 at the annual Mayor’s Sing Along and Holiday Tree Lighting in Todos Santos Plaza.

For more information, contact Florence at (925) 671-3403.