Lead to Life
The King Center
Atlanta, GA
April 6, 2018
Lead to Life is an organization that transforms weapons into shovels for ceremonial tree planting. I partnered with them to orchestrate a performative iron pour in which guns were melted and cast into shovel handles. The guns, obtained from city buy-back programs, served as a symbol of gun violence and the efforts taken to stop it. This event, as well as a series of other events, was conducted in remembrance of the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr’s assassination. The first iron pour took place on April 4th at 7:01pm when Reverend Bernice King rang the bell to mark the time of the assassination. She delivered a ceremonial gun to the furnace and iron was cast. The iron pour continued on Friday, April 6th. We were joined by community members, collaborators, and victims of gun violence. The iron pour was followed by a ceremony in which the newly cast shovels were used to break ground for trees that celebrate life.
