Guns for Art

Guns for Art – One artist taking the most controversial subject in America and helping the community through the power of the image. By Richard Ransier  

Sometimes in our lives we have opportunities presented to us that are hard to pass-up or maybe they’re paths we’re guided to undertake, journeys we will call them. As artists we start by doing what is compulsory then do what is feasible and suddenly we might be doing the impossible.  

Five years ago I met with a group that had a massive collection of guns that were taken off the streets by the Los Angeles County police department and slated to be melted down for scrap metal. The department had taken all the firing pins out of the guns and put these guns into a metal crusher so they would never work again. I presented a proposal to the group about creating something positive with these destroyed gun pieces to help the community instead of just melting them down. The department gave me hundreds of crushed guns and gun parts to turn into art. “Guns for Art” was launched.

Photo of Richard Ransier conducting a 5^th grade Class discussing gun safety and showing some of the artwork he is doing for the show.

As artists we react to social and political issues around us and produce reactive art to push these subjects of our time. I am not offering the cure to gun violence nor offering artwork from this traveling show and book as the skeleton key that will open all doors to harmony and understanding. There is no quick fix, no simplistic answer and no magic pill to create a peaceful, yet gun-filled utopia. But there are ways to push this forward and make a difference! How can we change the next generation to evolve for the better good?

This is a very special project for me and my goal is to take something that was used in a very negative way and transform it into something of value, and at the same time start to teach the next generation to use the power of their imagination to express themselves. After this pandemic is over and all the kids go back to school, they are going to need to express their imagination more then ever. A percentage of all Guns For Art image sales will go to buying art supplies for low-income schools.

The larger vision is to publish a book and build a traveling show to promote the story. This is not built around anti-gun or pro-gun viewpoints, it is based on creating powerful images to open up dialogue about this subject and at the same time to raise money for local schools art supplies and training.

The Guns For Art project is currently up for a 2021 Guggenheim Fellowship award.

Richard Ransier showing at the LA Art Show

We are honored at www.mouldings.com to be the first to offer some of these beautiful fine art Guns For Art prints for sale on our site. You can view the PRINTS AND CANVAS artwork by clicking on the below links.

PRINTS - CLICK TO VIEW ENTIRE COLLECTION

CANVAS - CLICK TO VIEW ENTIRE COLLECTION