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January 17, 2000

MLK DAY SETS STAGE FOR PEACE EVENT
VIOLENT TOYS TRANSFORMED
INTO NATIONAL PEACE SCULPTURE

Washington, D.C. -- A National Peace Sculpture formed with violent toys donated by children nationwide was unveiled today at the Capital Children's Museum to honor Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. The sculpture transforms violent toys into a universal message of hope and peace, turning war chests back into toy chests.

The sculpture is the result of nearly two years of work and the culmination of The Lion & Lamb Project's "10,000 Toys Campaign."

"The National Peace Sculpture is an attempt to make visible the 'entertainment' violence that saturates so much of children's lives", said Daphne White, executive director of The Lion & Lamb Project, who spoke at the dedication and roof-raising ceremony. Also speaking at the event was Tracey Frazier, a juvenile services coordinator from Louisville, Ky., where one child recently shot and killed his brother over a violent video game.

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In the shape of a child-sized house, the bottom layers of this sculpture are filled with violent toys such as plastic guns, video games like Quake and Doom, and action and wrestling figures. As the layers rise in height, these violent toys are broken down piece by piece until non-violent toys, like yo-yos, teddy bears and building blocks rise from the recycled remains.

"Don't people get it?" White said. "We are bringing up very young and impressionable children in a culture where the message is that violence equals fun, that violence is entertaining and that violence doesn't really hurt anybody. In video games, for example, when characters on the screen die, they always have another life with which to try again."

At the unveiling, area children, some of whom contributed violent toys for the event, gathered around this unique creation and wrote messages for peace that were dropped into the bottom layer of the sculpture. Over time, as these messages accumulate, they will cover over some of the violent toys.

The design of the sculpture is the brain-child of six students from the Massachusetts College of Art, who began building onsite five days ago.

The toys were collected with the help of communities nationwide. The Lion & Lamb Project organized 33 toy trade-ins in 32 different states. In addition, Zany Brainy held a one-day Trade-A-Toy program in 103 of their stores in 26 different states. Zany Brainy also sponsored a two-month national toy trade-in campaign on their website, www.zanybrainy.com. Out of the final 10,000 toys, Zany Brainy contributed almost 3,000 to the sculpture.

"We know that children cannot tell the difference between fantasy and reality, that is why the violent toy trade-ins are so important," White said. "They are our way of urging parents to talk with their children about their own values of non-violence."

The sculpture is a collaboration between The Lion & Lamb Project, the Capital Children's Museum, and the Massachusetts College of Art.

The Lion & Lamb Project is a national grassroots initiative by parents for parents, providing information about the effects of violent entertainment, toys and games on children's behavior. The organization works with parents, teachers, day care providers and others to advocate a simple message: violence is not child's play.

The Capital Children's Museum is an interactive museum where children can learn in a fun way. The museum fosters children's love for learning by encouraging exploration, creativity, imagination and discovery.

The Massachusetts College of Art, established in 1873, was the first and remains the only free-standing public art college in the United States.

The Massachusetts College of Art students who constructed the peace sculpture are: