Chilling anti-gun violence statues make debut this weekend across US

CHICAGO -- A series of anti-gun violence statues will be deployed this weekend across the country. Co-creator Sean Leonard said, "We want you to feel unsettled."

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Each statue features a female student hiding underneath her school desk, clutching its leg with fear in her eyes as a school lock down drill unfolds.

"Creating a life-size representation of this lock down drill, we're forced to confront this issue face to face," Leonard said.

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Leonard and fellow advertising professional Dan Crumrine brainstormed and came up with this project idea. Then they reached out to Manuel Oliver, whose son Joaquin was killed in the shooting in Parkland, Florida. They said Oliver encouraged them to broaden the project's impact, leading to a partnership with the Giffords nonprofit, and the deployment of 10 identical sculptures across the country.

These are multimedia pieces of art. Leonard and Crumrine said the desks are actual school desks. The girls, however, were 3D-printed; a deliberate symbol in light of recent debate over legalizing 3D gun-printing designs' being published.

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"We've been able to 3D print part of this statue and show that there is good that can come from 3D printing," said Leonard.

One of the sculptures will debut near Chicagoland, at Milwaukee's Bay View Street Bash, on Saturday.

A list of where the statues will be unveiled is here.

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