Custom guitar artist to speak at BSC’s Gannon Gallery
Published: Sep 19 2017
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A hands-on exhibit, Beau Theige's Custom Guitars, is on display at Bismarck State College in the Gannon Gallery located in LEA Hall through Sept. 30. Visitors are encouraged to plug the guitars in and play when they visit. An amplifier accompanies the exhibit.
A public reception with the artist will be held Wednesday, Sept. 27 from 4-6 p.m. Theige also will visit classrooms on campus that day.
The exhibit consists of a wide range of guitars handcrafted and inspired by everyday utilitarian objects, including barn wood, bed pans, license plates, kitchen objects, antiques, or, in Theige’s words, “plain old trash.” He calls the work “half art, half junk, all guitar.”
The oldest of eight children, Theiges is a “husband, father, and hobby rancher on the windswept plains of North Dakota.”
While he doesn’t play the guitar, he admires the craft. A graduate of Ray High School, he has worked in fields ranging from retail to oil before finding his calling in crafting custom guitars.
Since December 2015, he has created 160+ guitars and sold more than 120. His guitars can be seen coast- to-coast from Los Angeles to Florida, and even as far as London. He's been featured in the Williston Daily Herald, Talkin' the Bakken magazine, Midwest Living (online edition), and on Prairie Public Radio. He resides in rural Williston with his wife of thirteen years, Larissa, and their three children.