For the last year, artifacts from The Jim Irsay Collection were on display at Indiana University Bloomington as a part of Amped at IU, an exhibition that focused on the history of the modern guitar. This
collaborative exhibition with IU Collections celebrated music and shared pieces from Irsay’s world-renowned guitar collection and instruments from around the world found at IU.
The exhibition will close its successful, year-long run with a Sept. 13 event featuring:
• One-day-only exhibition of rare guitars owned and played by Jerry Garcia, Bob Dylan, David Gilmour, Eric Clapton, Prince, Kurt Cobain, John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Jimi Hendrix, Nancy Wilson, Lou Reed, and Eddie Van Halen,
• Lectures by IU faculty about music, culture and collections,
• One last look at the year-long exhibit space, and
• Performances by students from the IU Jacobs School of Music.
The year-long exhibition featured rarely exhibited guitars from the collection, including an 1840s CF Martin guitar, 1910 Gibson Model U Harp Guitar, 1939 Rickenbacker Silver Hawaiian Lap Steel, 1950 Epiphone Electar Lap Steel, 1954 Gibson EB-1 electric bass,1959 Fender Stratocaster Sunburst, 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard, 1964 Firebird V and 1971 Fender Telecaster Rosewood. It also featured special artifacts from The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Brian Epstein, George Benson, Steve Earle, Janis Joplin, Johnny Cash, Buddy Holly, Bo Diddley and Paul Stanley.
The late Colts Owner Jim Irsay’s passion for rock music, American history and pop culture led him to assemble a robust collection of culturally significant artifacts over several decades that together make up The Jim Irsay Collection. In 2022, Guitar Magazine highlighted his collection of guitars as “The Greatest Guitars on Earth.”
An active philanthropist, Irsay transformed his collection into a “traveling museum” and hosted free exhibitions in Nashville, Tenn., Washington, D.C., Austin, Texas, Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, Indianapolis, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Boston. He also regularly loaned artifacts to museums, nonprofits and other organizations for display and research across the country and around the world.
The mission of University Collections at McCalla is to provide accessible exhibition and educational experiences and create opportunities for students, faculty, and the community to engage with collections, IU-generated research, and creative projects in meaningful and innovative ways.
Also check out other Music events in Bloomington, Exhibitions in Bloomington, Entertainment events in Bloomington.
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