Country musician Ray Benson arrived at the Austin GuitarTown press conference Wednesday on a John Deere tractor with 10-foot guitar in tow.
For the past year, 35 giant guitar sculptures have been placed around Austin for the public art project sponsored by Gibson Guitars. They're made of fiberglass and weigh about 60 pounds. Each one was custom decorated by an artist.
Now on Oct. 17, those guitars are going up for auction to raise money for The Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM), The Austin Museum of Art (AMOA), American Youthworks and the Austin Children's Museum.
The guitars will also be on display at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in September.
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Backstage pass
News 8's Andy Langer interviews Ray Benson.
 
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A commemorative art book is also on sale that features each of the giant guitars. It includes profiles of the participating artists, along with the musicians and celebrities who supported the project, such as Dwight Yoakam and ZZ Top to Alejandro Escovedo and Marcia Ball.
