Trippin’: MCC students tour Laurel art museum guitar exhibit
Touring the guitar exhibit are front from left Joy St. Clair and Patrick Martin. Back
from left are Alexandria Bailey, Brett Gordon, Maggie Freeman, Miracle Brock, Zet Mirabueno, Dylan
Laird and Mitch Brantley.
MCC Dimensions and Guitar Ensemble members tuned into musical instruments as they toured the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art’s exhibition Medieval to Metal: The Art & Evolution of The GUITAR Exhibit.
From an Oud dating from 3000 B.C. to modern-day electric guitars, students saw 40 different guitars. “Many of these instruments are rare. You would not see them on display anywhere else in the region, especially the ancient Oud, the Renaissance Vihuela, lute, Baroque guitar, and Theorbo,” said Mitch Brantley, MCC guitar instructor who also toured the exhibit.
Other unique instruments included a guitar made out of license plates, the Crossroads guitar, which depicts the story of blues guitarist Robert Johnson, a video game guitar, and a “Air Guitar” which was an empty transparent case. Guitars are traditionally made out of wood, but the gallery also featured guitars made out of metal and plastic.
“Students in Dimensions usually play either electric or acoustic guitars which use steel strings, while Guitar Ensemble students use classical guitars which use nylon strings. The students were also able to try out gut strings which are used on early instruments as part of an interactive display,” Brantley said.
How guitars are constructed was another feature of the exhibit. After a guided tour of the guitar exhibit, the students had time to explore the museum's other galleries.