Guns into Plowshares

The Augsburgers began work on the sculpture in 1994.[1] Esther was living in Washington, D.C., with her husband Myron Augsburger, a prominent Mennonite pastor, and teaching after-school art classes. She heard her students talking often about family members lost to gun violence, and one of her own students was shot and killed.[2] She and Michael Augsburger, her son, learned of a gun buyback program coordinated by the D.C. police and funded by heavyweight boxing champion Riddick Bowe.[3]

A close-up shot of the handguns incorporated into the sculpture Guns into Plowshares

The guns were originally slated to be melted down for use in fences,[4] but the Augsburgers convinced the police chief to disable the guns, including semi-automatic TEC-9s and Smith & Wesson revolvers, and allow them to be used in the project.[2]

The sculpture took three years to complete at a cost of $125,000.[5] It was installed on August 20, 1997, in Judiciary Square, outside D.C. police headquarters.[5][3] After remaining there for over a decade, the sculpture was moved into storage in 2008 during a renovation of the D.C. Historic Courthouse nearby.[5] In January 2011, it was installed near a police evidence management facility in D.C.[6]

On October 10, 2017, after having been returned to storage for some time, the sculpture was refurbished and moved to the campus of Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia,[7] where another of Esther's sculptures, Love Essence, also stands.[8] Esther was the first student to graduate from the school with an art degree,[7] and her husband Myron was president of the school between 1965 and 1980.[9] D.C. police have expressed interest in having the sculpture returned to their premises.[7]

Esther Augsburger regards her artwork as an expression of her Mennonite religious commitments.[10] Yet for most of their history, the Mennonites (a branch of Anabaptist Christianity named for Menno Simons) had no strong tradition of artmaking. The tradition placed a high value on what is considered a "plain" or "simple" form of life,[11] which involved a rejection of decoration or ornament. Many Mennonites also objected to the use of images in worship.[12] What aesthetic tradition they did develop therefore focused on functional household objects like quilts and furniture.[13]

In the latter half of the 20th century, however, a new tradition of distinctively Mennonite art began to emerge. The growth of this tradition was visible in both Mennonite literature and the visual arts.[14][15][16] Esther Augsburger belongs to this new tradition. She was the first graduate of the newly formed studio art program at Eastern Mennonite University in 1972,[7] and she went on to produce sculptures recognized both nationally and internationally.[10] Much of her work, like Guns into Plowshares, attests to traditional Mennonite values, especially a commitment to service and nonviolence.[10]

One early story about the sculpture reported some confusion about its meaning,[2] but its reception by local residents has generally been positive.[6][17] It has been cited in scholarly discussion about Isaiah 2:4[18][19] and in homiletic resources for pastors who are preaching on the passage.[20] In the wake of the February 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, the sculpture became the site of a vigil for those who had died.[21]