Invited guests last night gathered in the Laurel Oak home of Ellen and John Cavanaugh for the unveiling of the Perlman Music Program/Suncoast’s latest endeavor, The Art of the Violin, an exhibition of 20 violins painted, adorned and otherwise transformed by local artists from identical instruments into singular works of art. From the mechanical to the organic, the simple to the ornate, whether it be through acrylic, sculpture or mixed media, artists brought their own vision and experience to the challenge, creating a diverse collection at once united and decidedly disparate.

“I thought it would be a great experience,” said artist Karen Prosper Davenport, who created an interactive display with her violin, painting a mother owl on the instrument and hanging it from the frame of another painting depicting two owlets. Flipping the violin reveals a painting of the mother owl in profile, imparting versatility to the installation. “An owl lends itself to the shape of the violin, plus the owl’s sound is so musical and I love it. They make me think of music.”

Similarly, artist Tim Jaeger’s contribution depicts a rather striking portrait of a rooster, staring fixedly out of the instrument’s face. And while a handful of artists utilized marine imagery to enhance the shape of the violin, others, such as Todd Grywinski, who painted his violin to resemble an industrial construction, opted for stark contrast. Gay Germain’s was hard to miss, jet black atop a matching pedestal, flanked with swirls of curved and shaped wood looking like a collapsed treble clef.

Beginning in November, the violins will be showcased for the public in galleries around town before being auctioned in February with all proceeds going to PMP/Suncoast’s educational programs.

“They have donated their time and their artistry and given it all to the program,” said PMP/Suncoast board chair Fran Lambert, of the response from the local artistic community, which garnered even more volunteers than the project could take. “We thank them for that.”

PMP programs such as the Super Strings, which gives young violinists and violists the opportunity to learn from and perform with famed conductor Itzhak Perlman and the PMP String Orchestra, and PMP’s Education Outreach Program, sending professional musicians into local schools to work with students, will continue to benefit the community.

Central to the mission of PMP/Suncoast, as expressed by Lambert and others, is a belief in the central importance of arts education, an area often hurt most by underfunding and budget shortfalls.

“This project combines two very important things for me: my love of art and my desire to see talented young people develop their musical abilities through the many programs at PMP/Suncoast,” said Linda Driggs, co-chair of The Art of the Violin project. “We’re hoping to support our programs and keep music in the schools”

As for the artists, it was an opportunity to support the arts, but also to test their skills and embrace a new challenge.

“I’m a big fan of Itzhak Perlman so when they asked if I wanted to do this, I said ‘Absolutely,’” said James Griffin, local artist and former fiddler, whose work Adagio Appassionato gets its name from the music he was listening to when he created it. “It was a challenge, but I had an idea of what I wanted to do and it was thrilling to watch it happen on the violin itself.”

The auction will take place at a reception on February 19.