Wild in Art invites Manchester’s emerging music artists to have their portraits featured on ‘Guitar Street’ as part of this summer’s city-wide art trail, Music for the Senses 7 July – 31 August 2025

Forty guitars featuring the faces of grassroots artists stencilled on the back by artist Liam Hopkins (Lazerian) will hang in an exhibition as part of Guitar Street on King Street for the duration of the trail.

Musicians can register their interest via email and then names will be drawn out of a guitar case to decide who will be involved.

City-wide art trail Music for the Senses takes over the streets of Manchester this summer from 7 July – 31 August 2025, as the city welcomes 1.3m music fans to one of the biggest summers the city has ever seen.

As part of Music for the Senses, Manchester artist Liam Hopkins, known as Lazerian (Celebration of Polar Bears, Weave) will create an interactive installation for the duration of the trail on King Street called Guitar Street that lovingly repurposes donated guitars.

Lazerian will also be stencilling the faces of some of Manchester’s grassroots music artists onto the back of the forty guitars that will hang in an exhibition along Guitar Street.

Musicians can register their interest via email and then names will be drawn out of a guitar case to decide who will be involved; they don’t have be guitar-based musicians to be a part of it, submissions are welcomed from RnB, Soul, Reggae, Jazz, Funk, Hip-Hop, and Dance music genres, and everything in between.

The draw will take place on 20 June and then selected music artists will be asked to supply photos by 27 June so Lazerian can create stencils (if it is a band, it will include each member) and spray them onto the back of the guitars.

Monies raised by Music for the Senses will go to grassroots music projects and venues across Greater Manchester via a dedicated music fund managed by charity partner Forever Manchester in collaboration with Manchester Music City.

Lazerian will be creating another installation on St. Peter’s Square called Cathedral of Sound from 7-20 July before moving to Mayfield Park from 25 July – 31 August. This truly show-stopping design is still in need of guitar (or any stringed instrument) donations to make it a reality, so if you have anything gathering dust in the attic and you want to give it the chance to be a part of something beautiful, send it in.

Contact Wild in Art on art@musicforthesenses.co.uk with your name, contact details, music description, social media handles, and an image if you are a grassroots music artist and interested in being included in the Guitar Street exhibition.

Visit the website for details on art submissions and donations for Cathedral of Sound.

Music for the Senses is created by Wild in Art, the team behind the award-winning Bee in the City, in collaboration with Manchester City Council.