Hello Everyone,

I am writing with another update on the progress of the Guns In The Hands of Artists project and of course the forthcoming book.

Last week I traveled to St. Louis where the show will open at Washington University's Des Lee Gallery in downtown on September 16th and run through November 21st.

While I was there laying out the exhibition in the gallery, I met with city officials about launching a gun buyback in conjunction with the exhibition.  I also met with University officials about coordinating the exhibition with their larger campus-wide, yearlong initiative “Gun Violence: A Public Health Crisis.” The exhibition is being presented by the Institute for Public Health, The Brown School and the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University.

Here is a link to the press release

https://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/Guns-in-the-Hands-of-Artists-2015.aspx

While in town, I also did three TV interviews with Fox, CBS and NBC.

Below is a great piece done by Fox.

http://fox2now.com/2015/08/26/washington-university-set-to-open-gun-art-exhibit/

On the book front, we are getting closer.  I have spent the last month securing more contributors and we should start the design phase in the next few weeks and then I will be able to get you a better idea of when it will be ready to ship out to you and for bookstores across the country.  See the new contributor list below with some great new additions!

Contributors to the book thus far include

Walter Isaacson

Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly

Maria Cuomo Cole

Mayor Mitch Landrieu

Dan Gross of The Brady Campaign

Joe Nocera of The New York Times

Michael Waldman of the Brennan Center for Justice

Author John Barry

Lucia McBath mother of Jordan Davis

Rapper Lupe Fiasco

Poet E. Ethelbert Miller

Lolis Eric Elie

Curator Dan Cameron

and more still being confirmed

Thank you for your continued patience as the book takes shape....Stay tuned for more information

Creatively and Gratefully

Jonathan

Hello Everyone,

i just finished up my second week of presenting the Guns In The Hands of Artists exhibition at The Aspen Institute...this time it was at The Aspen Action Forum which brings together leaders from the Aspen Global Leaders Network...350 leaders from around the world that gather in Aspen each year.  The week kicked off with a reception for the exhibition and an interview with Suzanne Malveaux of CNN

Suzanne Malveaux of CNN Interviews Jonathan Ferrara for Guns in the Hands of Artists at the the Aspen Institute...click on the link below to see the interview

http://jonathanferraragallery.blogspot.com/2015/08/suzanne-malveaux-of-cnn-interviews.html

More updates to come next week...

Enjoy

Creatively and Gratefully

Jonathan

Hello Everyone,

I am writing to update you on the progress with the Guns In The Hands of Artists book.  Earlier this month, I  presented the exhibition at The Aspen Ideas Festival to a tremendous response.  The presenters and attendees alike embraced the project and several have come on board to help facilitate the traveling of the exhibition across the country.

You can see all the press coverage here by visiting my gallery's blog

http://jonathanferraragallery.blogspot.com/search/label/Guns%20in%20the%20Hands%20of%20Artists

I head back to Aspen this weekend for the second presentation of the project at The Aspen Action Forum, also held at The Aspen Institute.  the week will kick off with a reception for the exhibition and then I will be interviewed by Suzanne Malveaux of CNN.

I know everyone is anxious to know when the books will be published and in your hands...

There will be a slight delay in this because I am still actively pursuing various thought leaders (many of whom I met at The Ideas Festival) to contribute essays to complement the artworks to be featured in the book.

The latest updated list of confirmed is below and we will confirm many more before long.

Walter Isaacson is writing the introduction

Renowned curator Dan Cameron has written the essay on the art

Along With contributions from Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly

Mayor Mitch Landrieu

Dan Gross

John Barry

Lucia McBath, mother of Jordan Davis

Maria Cuomo Cole

Michael Waldman

Robert Crais

Gregg Hurwitz

and Ace Atkins

I thank you for your continued support and patience...the book is going to be fantastic and I want to make sure it is the best it can be.

Creatively and Gratefully

Jonathan

We did it !!!! The book is funded and will now go into production..Thanks for supporting this important project...Stay tuned for more updates.