Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA) NewsFor immediate release: August 13, 2009 Giant guitars arrive in bag claim at Austin-Bergstrom International AUSTIN, TEXAS -- A collection of giant 10-foot tall guitars are now on display at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The “Big Guitars” are located atop bag carousel three. These are some of the art pieces of the Gibson’s “GuitarTown” charity fund raiser. Austin resident Milton Verret purchased the eight guitars and donated them to the City of Austin. The “Big Guitars” will be displayed in baggage claim through November 2009. Verret donated eight of the original “Big Guitars” to the City of Austin on June 18. Verret purchased the guitars at auction in October 2007 during GuitarTown, a gala event to raise money for several Austin charities. “From the moment I saw the guitars on display in Austin I started working on a way to keep them here, in the Live Music Capital of the World,” Verret said. “Being able to provide money to those great Austin charities was step one. Step two is to put the guitars back where they belong.” For more than a year before the auction, the “Big Guitars” were displayed throughout the city at various Austin businesses, venues and city landmarks. For the past two months, the guitars have been on showcase at City Hall. All eight were commissioned by Gibson Guitars and decorated by local artists as art as part of the temporary exhibit “Austin GuitarTown.” Verret’s generous personal bids during the GuitarTown Auction totaled $120,000 of the more than $589,000 paid to four Austin area charities: Health Alliance for Austin Musicians, Austin Museum of Art, American YouthWorks and the Austin Children’s Museum. Each guitar was built in 2006 out of a uniform mold consisting of foam and fiber glass. They are identical in shape and size but not decoration. The guitars stand 10 feet high and weigh 75 pounds. City of Austin “Big Guitars” on display at ABIA include:
After November 2009, guitars will be removed from bag carousel three and placed throughout various locations in the airport and City Hall. Austin-Bergstrom International Airport ranked in the top three for customer service among airports it size around the globe and third for any size in North America in the Airports Council International (ACI) Airport Service Quality Survey. Austin-Bergstrom has nonstop service to 37 destinations in the U.S. and Canada and served over 9 million passengers in 2008. A complete listing of all nonstop flight destinations from Austin and the airlines that serve them is available on www.abia.org, click on ‘airlines & flights.’ Getting
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Source: City of Austin