Local artist to transform donated guns into sculpture advocating gun safety legislation

Zaria Johnson, The Columbus Dispatch
·4 min read
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Artist Stephen Canneto, left, and Terry Davis prepare a pistol to be sawed into pieces during the Guns to Gardens event at the First Community Church North on June 11.
Artist Stephen Canneto, left, and Terry Davis prepare a pistol to be sawed into pieces during the Guns to Gardens event at the First Community Church North on June 11.

Stephen Canneto is the artist behind some of Columbus' well-known sculpture displays, including NavStar at Franklin Park Conservatory, three triangles that seem to bend in the breeze like ships at sail, and Quest at the Ohio Department of Education with its three metal shards uplifting a rainbow-colored glass sphere.

For his latest project, Canneto is taking on a medium he's rather familiar with: disarmed and donated firearms.

First Community Church North campus on Columbus' Northwest Side near Hilliard opened its doors on a recent Saturday to those who wanted to anonymously donate their unwanted guns, which Canneto will use to create a sculpture for the church.

"You're taking something that can be destructive in someone's life or has been destructive, and turning into something that ... brings creativity," said Tim Vansant, who will officially become minister of community justice for First Community Church on July 1.

Volunteer Steve Mushrush carries rifles from a car to be dismantled at the Guns to Gardens event at the First Community Church North ib June 11.
Volunteer Steve Mushrush carries rifles from a car to be dismantled at the Guns to Gardens event at the First Community Church North ib June 11.

The church's safe surrender event is part of the national Guns to Gardens movement, which aims to raise awareness for sensible gun legislation and limit the number of guns in circulation around the country. Guns to Gardens donation events serve as an opportunity for those with guns they don't know how to store, have trauma from or simply no longer need, and dispose of them safely and anonymously.

Canneto was selected as the artist based on his connection with both Columbus, and gun violence awareness.

Earlier this year, Canneto was commissioned by the Broward Health Hospital in Palm Springs, Florida, to create a memorial for those killed in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglass High School in 2018.

"As a father, as a community member, I have an obligation to work on solutions," Canneto said. "As an artist, I have a voice and it's incumbent upon me to use my voice to address issues, especially those as important as gun violence in our society.

While Vansant had some concerns about a low turnout, the church received 14 guns from about 10 different donors, and three more from two callers over that weekend. By the following Monday, the church had received 17 long guns and three handguns.

One visitor, who inherited guns from family members, anonymously donated several guns.

An art piece made from gun parts created by Stephen Canneto on display June 11 for the Guns to Gardens event at the First Community Church North.
An art piece made from gun parts created by Stephen Canneto on display June 11 for the Guns to Gardens event at the First Community Church North.

"It was always a bit of a worry for them to have them in the home," Vansant said of the donors. "They were able to finally, in their words, 'do the right thing' and turn that in and they no longer became a worry in their home."

Though the church began planning the safe surrender in the fall, there have since been numerous mass shootings across the United States, including Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, and Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, New York. There have also been numerous fatal shootings locally, including inside a shoe store at Tuttle Mall and one  at a Hilltop park that left a young woman dead and two teens wounded, including a suspected 15-year-old gunman.

Read more: Tuttle mall 911 call: 'He smacked me with a purse,' alleged shooter says about victim

"We're providing a service to individual people, and that's awesome, but we also realize that it's not a huge chunk of the gun supply here in central Ohio," Vansant said. "Beyond that, we want to have ... a faith-based response that says we are for sensible gun legislation and removing some of these things that can cause harm."

Volunteers say a prayer before the start of the Guns to Gardens event on June 11 at the First Community Church North in Columbus.
Volunteers say a prayer before the start of the Guns to Gardens event on June 11 at the First Community Church North in Columbus.

Vansant partnered with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a movement advocating for gun violence prevention across the country, and God Before Guns, an organization based in Cleveland that hosted similar gun donation events in the past, to host a safe and effective gun drop-off locally.

Donors pulled into the church parking lot with unloaded firearms in the trunks of their vehicles. Trained volunteers removed guns from the vehicles and checked they were safe to handle before handing them off to Canneto, who used a saw to cut the guns up in a public demonstration.

"We wanted that to happen here in person, and that can that can be cathartic for someone," Vansant said.

From left, volunteers Scott Toop, Steve Mushrush and Terry Davis begin to dismantle rifles June 11 at the Guns to Gardens event at the First Community Church North in Columbus.
From left, volunteers Scott Toop, Steve Mushrush and Terry Davis begin to dismantle rifles June 11 at the Guns to Gardens event at the First Community Church North in Columbus.

Canneto displayed two of his previous sculptures, Pray for Peace and Peace to Pieces, both of which were made with donated and deconstructed fire arms. Both sculptures will be on display at the First Community Church South campus at 1320 Cambridge Blvd.

"I'm not advocating to take guns out of people's hands who have them for legitimate purposes," Canneto said, "but I am advocating for removing guns from those who cause harm to themselves and others."

With the donated guns, Canneto and Vansant have an early idea to create another piece depicting a toy box overflowing with gun pieces.

This year marked the first national display of the Guns to Gardens movement, and Vansant said this won't be the last time you see the safe surrender at the church.

"It's a good remembrance of the type of work we're trying to do here," Vansant said. "This is a place where we're going to go out into the community and try to affect change."

Sculptor Stephen Canneto poses for a portrait with his art, a prayer stand made of gun parts, during the Guns to Gardens event June 11 at the First Community Church North in Columbus.
Sculptor Stephen Canneto poses for a portrait with his art, a prayer stand made of gun parts, during the Guns to Gardens event June 11 at the First Community Church North in Columbus.

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Guns donated to church to become artist's take on gun violence