On Sunday, April 12, professor and entrepreneur Thomas F. Morrissey of Veteran Guitar (www.VeteranGuitar.com) will present a two-week exhibition of these finely crafted instruments. This exhibition, which opens with a lecture, also offers a window into the craft and process involved in building guitars. Many of the materials and tools unique to the process will also be on display.

One who builds and repairs stringed instruments is known as a luthier. The word luthier comes from the French word luth, which means lute. The shop in which the craft of making string instruments occurs is called a lutherie. Currently, there are dozens of individual luthiers throughout Rhode Island and the New England area at work in small shops, often located in a basement, garage, or one of Rhode Island’s numerous converted historic mill complexes. 

In 2014, Morrissey received a National Science Foundation Fellowship in STEM Education building guitars. He has since transferred this knowledge to his first group of independent study students, whose instruments will also be on display during “Exemplifying Work and Culture: The Craft of Guitar Building in Rhode Island.” 

The students include Raphael Avant, Raymond Legare, and Somsanouk Louangvixa. Morrissey is currently working in conjunction with faculty from several departments at the college under the direction of Dr. Gregory Lamontagne, vice president for academic affairs, to develop a three-credit interdisciplinary course in guitar building that will be offered in the next several months. For information on this course, contact Prof. Morrissey at CCRI: tmorrissey@ccri.edu.

Exemplifying Work and Culture: The Craft of Guitar Building in Rhode Island. Sunday, April 12, through Sunday, April 26. The Museum of Work & Culture, 42 South Main St., Woonsocket. Contact: Anne Conway, 769-9675, aconway@rihs.org.