Museum of Making Music Celebrates Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery’s Golden Anniversary with Landmark Exhibition

NAMM (The National Association of Music Merchants), the largest global not-for-profit music trade organization, which recently celebrated 125 years of NAMM at The 2026 NAMM Show — and home to The Museum of Making Music — is announcing an exclusive, and limited-engagement exhibition that will showcase 50 Guitars. 50 Luthiers. 50 Years., a special anniversary exhibition celebrating five decades of craftsmanship, innovation, and influence from the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery. This one-of-a-kind exhibition will run through March 15, 2026 at the Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad, CA displaying more than 50 extraordinary guitars, each built by a different accomplished luthier or group of luthiers, to honor the school’s 50th anniversary.

In addition to the exhibition, the Museum will host a special opening celebration on Friday, February 13 featuring a behind-the-scenes conversation with William Eaton, luthier and director of the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery as well as live music performed on select guitars from the display, giving audiences the rare chance to both see and hear these remarkable instruments.

Founded in 1975, the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery is the longest-running guitar-making school in North America and has helped shape the modern guitar industry. Many of its graduates are now highly acclaimed independent builders, innovators, and leaders at some of the world’s most iconic guitar brands. This one-of-a-kind exhibition offers a rare opportunity to experience the collective impact of those guitar makers side-by-side, in one exhibition.

“Behind every sound is an iconic story,” said Carolyn Grant, Executive Director of the Museum of Making Music. “This exhibition celebrates beautiful instruments as well as the people, knowledge, and traditions that have shaped the guitar industry for 50 years—and we are delighted to host such an exclusive exhibition.”

“Each of the guitars in the exhibition tells its own unique story,” said William Eaton, luthier and director of the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery. “But collectively, they reflect the values that have guided our school for half a century—craft, curiosity, and a deep respect for the instrument.”

This project is truly unprecedented is its shared origin: every guitar in the exhibition was crafted using historic rosewood and mahogany sourced from a single shipment of wood brought from Nicaragua to Phoenix in the late 1960s by school co-founder John Roberts. That singular material connection weaves the instruments together across generations, styles, and design philosophies, transforming the exhibition into both a technical showcase and a living piece of musical history.

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