LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Louisville sculptor and blacksmith has repurposed donated guns and turned them into garden tools and art.
With the help of a 3,000 degree forge, Craig Kaviar transforms parts of unwanted, donated rifles and handguns and repurposes them into functional garden tools and valuable art.
It's a partnership with the Guns to Gardens non-profit.
With the help of a 3,000 degree forge, Craig Kaviar transforms parts of unwanted, donated rifles and handguns and repurposes them into functional garden tools and valuable art. (WDRB photo/April 20, 2024)
The rose has a $1,500 price tag.
Kaviar said the goal is to get guns off Louisville's streets.
"I'm trying to make a statement. We have too many guns in our society, and we have an epidemic of violence in this city and this country," Kaviar said. "There are also a lot of people who inherit or have weapons that they no longer want. And they'd been sometimes people commit suicide and the family doesn't really want the weapon, or people were injured in accidents or even violence. And so we have it's not easy to get rid of weapons, and there's a lot of legal hassle on owning weapons or transferring weapons."
Two of his sculptures have already sold.
WDRB originally interviewed Kaviar in November of 2023 when he was waiting on the gun donations.
The next surrender where you can donate your guns anonymously is on June 9 from 2-4 p.m. at the parking lot across from the Church of the Promise.
"They ask you to bring the guns in your trunk of your car and you drive up; and we hire an armor to check the guns to make sure they're not loaded. And on occasion people have loaded guns because they didn't really own them. They inherited them and they didn't know. So the armor makes sure they're not loaded, and then there are volunteers with chop stores. The donors are then asked to stay until the guns are chopped up. So, we don't technically take possession of the guns until they're no longer viable guns and so that way we don't have to keep track of weapons. They are no longer weapons and then they are given to me and I turn them into sculptures," Kaviar said.
You can meet Kaviar at a Tree of Life Menorah Dedication on May 17. He created the sculpture. Dinner starts at 6 p.m. A blue jean Shabbat Service starts at 7 p.m. and then the dedication starts at 7:35 p.m. To RSVP, click here.
Kaviar is also getting ready to teach some classes.
On May 11, you can learn how to forge a railroad spike into a knife. On May 25, you can also take his Intro to Blacksmithing class.
You can buy a garden tool for $140, or the horse for $1,500, by contacting Kaviar at ckaviar@gmail.com, or calling him at (502) 561-0377. You can also use his email to contact him to sign-up for a class too.
Kaviar opened Kaviar Forge in 1985. For more information about Kaviar's business, click here.
For more information about Guns to Gardens, click here or contact guns2gardenslouisville@gmail.com.
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