Guns into Plowshares, (sculpture).

Guns into Plowshares, (sculpture).

Augsburger, Esther K., sculptor.

Augsburger, Michael D., sculptor.

Guns into Plowshares, (sculpture).

Aug. 20, 1997. Relocated 2008. Reinstalled Jan. 2011.

Steel and 3,000 disabled handguns.

Sculpture: approx. H. 16 ft. (4 tons).

A huge black plow blade embedded with 3,000 handguns.

Object -- Weapon -- Gun

Object -- Tool -- Plow

Outdoor Sculpture -- District of Columbia -- Washington

District of Columbia, Metropolitan Police Department, Evidence Control Facility, 34 Village Lane, S.W., Washington, District of Columbia

Formerly located Judiciary Square, Indiana Avenue & Fourth Street, N.W., Washington, District of Columbia 1997-2008.

The 3,000 disabled handguns were acquired from Washington, D.C. residents through a gun buy-back program sponsored by boxer Riddick Bowe in cooperation with the Washington Metropolitan Police Department. The artists, Esther Augsburger and her son Michael Augsburger, former Washington residents, came up with the project after hearing that the handguns were to be melted down and used for fence posts. The artists spent three years raising funds through private donations for the $125,000 sculpture. In 2008, during a renovation and expansion of the D.C. Historic Courthouse at Judiciary Square, the sculpture was moved to a vacant lot in Southwest Washington awaiting reinstallation at a new site.

IAS files contain a related article from Sculpture Magazine 17 (April 1998): pg. 15 and Washington Post, Jan. 17, 2011, pg. B3. For additional information see: The Washington Post, Sept. 13, 1997, pg. B3. The inscription on a plaque in front of the sculpture reads: GUNS INTO PLOWSHARES/"They shall beat their swords into plowshares/and their spears into pruning hooks." Isaiah 2:4/A gift to Washington, D.C. as a symbol of hope/from the friends and supporters of InterChurch, Inc./ESTHER K. AUGSBURGER & MICHAEL D. AUGSBURGER/Sculptors/August 20, 1997.

Inventory staff, 1998.

Washington Post, Jan. 17, 2011, pg. B3.

Sculpture Magazine 17 (April 1998): pg. 15.

Washington Post, Jan. 17, 2011, pg. B3.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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