Martin Guitar celebrates its 190th year with “Joan Baez: Musician & Artist,” through April 2024, C.F. Martin & Co. Museum, Nazareth.

“Usually in our museum, everything is very guitar-centric,” says Jason Ahner, C.F. Martin & Co. Museum Archivist and Museum Manager. “We do have a few models in this exhibit, but it’s focusing on mostly Joan’s artwork, her hand-written lyrics and other ephemera she is loaning to us.”

The folk music pioneer’s 1929 Martin 0-45 and 1997 Martin Signature Edition prototype are on display.

As her primary guitar for concerts and recordings, the Martin 0-45 traveled with her from the 1963 March on Washington, D.C., to the 1969 Woodstock Music and Art Festival, Bethel, N.Y., and beyond for decades afterward.

The Baez Signature Edition 0-45 includes the words “Too Bad You Are a Communist” on a label adhered to the back of the soundboard to mimic the message written inside her original guitar discovered when Baez sent her instrument to Martin for repairs in 1996.

The sentence, believed to have been scribbled by a repairman years before, appears on the Signature Edition’s label written backwards so it can be read with a mirror.

A circa 1880 Martin 0-40 parlor-sized guitar on display was played by Baez between 1966 and 1978. She recorded her 1967 album, “Joan,” with it. Baez’s handwritten set list is still on the treble side. The instrument is part of the museum’s collection.

“Joan Baez is one of the reasons we are in this new factory,” says retired CEO Chris Martin IV. Now serving as executive chairman, Martin IV explains that prior to folk music becoming popular in the 1950s and 1960s, Martin guitars were manufactured at the company’s smaller North Street location. With the folk music revival, renewed demand for acoustic guitars convinced Chris’ grandfather, C.F. Martin III to expand operations.

“It was a labor of love,” says C.F. Martin & Co. Museum Exhibit Specialist Robert Goetzl of his more than three years working on the exhibit. He handled negotiations with Baez’s longtime representative Nancy Lutzow. “Wonderful lady, I made a friend,” says Goetzl as he explains how much he appreciates the connections he makes inside and outside of Martin. “It’s a wonderful place to have these relationships,” he says.

As C.F. Martin & Co. artist-in-residence, Goetzl has created murals at the headquarters and hand paints Martin’s custom edition guitars.

New York City-based singer-songwriter Sage Bava, strumming her newly-acquired hand-painted Martin 00L “Earth” guitar, sang “Diamonds and Rust” by Baez during the Nov. 14 press conference. Martin CEO Thomas Ripsam also made an appearance.

Located inside the C.F. Martin & Co. headquarters, the museum is home to the brand’s historic guitars, ukuleles and mandolins, and photographs and information about the legendary musicians who played them. Vintage instrument-making tools and memorabilia are displayed.

Founded by luthier Christian Frederick Martin in New York City in 1833, his namesake company relocated to Nazareth in 1839.

The locale is immortalized in the lyric, “I pulled into Nazareth,” from the song, “The Weight,’ written by Jamie Robbie Robertson and a hit for The Band from the group’s debut album, “Music From Big Pink” (1968).

“Joan Baez: Musician & Artist,” through April 2024, C.F. Martin & Co. Museum, C.F. Martin & Co. Headquarters, 510 Sycamore St., Nazareth. Museum hours 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Monday - Friday. Closed Saturday - Sunday. 888-433-9177; www.martinguitar.com

“Gallery View” is a column about artists, exhibitions and galleries. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com