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Guns, Art-Making, and Truth: Public Dialogues on Gun Culture

Date: April 24, 2024
Organizers: Humanities Lab, Arizona State University
Being Human Festival (US)

Committed to “making meaning for and with the community,” festival organizers took up the role of fourth responders: “expressing, through art, the impact of gun violence on the community in ways that open dialogue and support healing for those who are harmed.” Within the event, organizers performed and promoted both critical and creative “fourth responder” community works, which included critical discussions of gun violence in video games and film, a full-color print magazine for parents and children to talk about gun-related issues, and a performance piece based on interviews given by people convicted of gun violence. All of these exhibits interwove humanities and arts-based research in order to incorporate lived experiences and engage critically with controversial perspectives. They also offered visions for a sustainable future that embraces safety and security in every community.
“I think the audience received information and imagination from all the contributors in equal parts. The day was a collision between data and dreams, and how all of us can embody and imagine a shared, radical morality built on the promise of learning from, listening to, and participating in a broad, equitable world of ideas and boundless empathy.”
–Daniel Roumain, Festival event co-organizer

“Through self-expression, we can share ideas and experiences that can lead to safer, more understanding communities.”
–Fiona Sauve, Festival event presenter



Event guests and community members take in multi-dimensional presentations and performances designed to facilitate reflection and exchange. Photos by Charlie Leight/ASU News.
“Our team … presented two poems based on interviews we conducted with real people who committed gun violence. The first poem, ‘The American Way,’ was from the perspective of a man who assaulted someone with a deadly weapon. The second poem, ‘Triggers from the Past,’ was from the perspective of a man who was prosecuted for first-degree murder.”
–Fiona Sauve, Festival event presenter
One community participant, Bobbie Reed, sees the event’s investment in intergenerational exchange and open dialogue as “a movement … that benefits the greater good.”
Media Coverage
Maureen Kobierowski, “Students host gun culture storytelling event with an intergenerational audience,” ASU News, May 6, 2024.