By Kathy Chouteau
An Artist’s Reception featuring upcycled, playable guitars created by Steve Zwetsch and his collaborators is set for Fri., Aug. 25, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the City Hall Gallery Space in El Cerrito.
Zwetsch—an El Sobrante artist who is the El Cerrito Creative ReUse (ECCRU) Artist for 2022-2023—collaborated with fellow East Bay artists as he repurposed and upcycled materials uncovered at the El Cerrito Recycling + Environmental Resource Center (RERC) to create works for the “Local Artist Guitar Series” that are on display.
Zwetsch recently told the Richmond Standard that 20 guitars are currently being exhibited at the City Hall Gallery Space now through Dec. 15. Also known locally as a creator of cigar box guitars, the artist first shared word of his residency at the El Cerrito recycling center with us last fall, noting that he was making works using materials including a child’s aluminum crutch and an old film canister.
The artist told us in the fall that his collaboration with other East Bay artists on the Local Artist Guitar Series saw him not only using found materials beyond his usual cigar boxes, but also pairing up with one artist per guitar to feature their art on it.
The El Cerrito City Hall Gallery Space is located at 10890 San Pablo Ave., 2nd Floor in El Cerrito. Zwetsch’s cigar box guitars and ukuleles are for sale; learn more via @cigarboxkitchen on Instagram or contact him at [email protected].
