Brian McCarty, Toy Photographer and Executive Director of the War Toy nonprofit organization, will present a special, free preview of new art-therapy-based collaborations with children in Ukraine at the West Hollywood Library from 7 to 8 p.m. tonight. A brief Q&A will follow.
Brian recently spent five weeks in Ukraine collaborating with children to narratively recreate their firsthand accounts of the war, using locally found toys that are placed and posed at the actual locations. He worked with the Ukrainian Art Therapy Association and Integrative Art Therapy Institute to ensure the safety of the participating children and to promote resilience through the program.
The resulting artwork – narrative photographs of toys and the children’s drawings on which they’re based – will be featured in an exhibition opening at the Musée de la Photographie in Charleroi, Belgium and then in a US touring exhibition being developed by the Mid-America Art Alliance for launch in Fall 2023.
War Toys is a California-based 501(c)(3) organization founded by Brian McCarty in 2019 after nearly a decade of fieldwork with war-affected children from Iraq, Syria, Israel, the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Lebanon. With a board that includes veterans of Mattel, Sesame Workshop, Disney, Warner Bros. Games, and Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, they are continuing the advocacy work of the photo series while developing educational and toy industry programs that will have a global reach.
This project is supported in part by an arts grant from the City of West Hollywood.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Brian McCarty is a photographer, art director, and producer known for his unique work with toys. While comfortable in the studio, Brian’s preferred approach is to integrate toy characters into real-life situations through the use of forced perspective, working in-camera with minimal postproduction. McCarty creates his photographs by sometimes traveling to exotic locations, including active war zones.
Since graduating Parsons School of Design in 1996, Brian has worked for and with some of the biggest names in the toy industry, including Mattel, Hasbro, Disney, Cartoon Network, and Nickelodeon. His unique photography has not only driven millions in sales, it has also earned wide-recognition and praise within the art world. His first monograph Art-Toys was published in 2010 and featured collaborations with toymakers and designers who also use toys as mediums for artistic expression. Brian’s independent series War-Toys launched soon after in 2011. Since then, he has collaborated with children from Iraq, Syria, Israel, the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Lebanon to tell their stories, working through local and international NGOs and UN agencies.
Brian’s work has been exhibited by museums and universities, acquired by prominent collectors, and covered by The New York Times, Washington Post, Guardian, Wired, Al-Jazeera, Reuters, Buzzfeed, Huffington Post, and countless other publications around the world. He’s appeared on CNN, PRI’s The World, PBS News Hour, BBC World Service, and CBC’s Q. Brian has earned a Fulbright, grants from the U.S. Department of State, and indirect support from the NEA. He has lectured at the Carter Presidential Library, New School, Sesame Workshop, American University of Beirut, and TEDx. He’s seen his work used as a billboard in Times Square and stolen by ISIS for online propaganda. Brian understands how much toys shape and reflect our culture.
ABOUT WAR TOYS
In War Toys, Brian McCarty advocates for children who have been affected by war in all its forms. Through a unique, art-therapy-based process, he collaborates with children to tell their stories, using locally found toys to recreate firsthand accounts of survival and loss. War Toys works in the field with partnered NGOs and UN agencies, amplifying the voices of the children under their care and producing compelling artwork that reaches new audiences and affects change though exhibitions, campaigns, presentations, and media engagement.
War Toys artwork has been shown in exhibitions and installations around the world, including in New York, Hong Kong, Paris, London, Cape Town, and Los Angeles.
These events have supported organizations including UNICEF, Terre des Hommes (TdH) Italia, Kayany Foundation, International Criminal Court (ICC), and IOM / The UN Migration Agency.
War Toys has been presented in talks at The New School, American University of Beirut, Carter Presidential Library, TEDx, Sesame Workshop, and PolyU School of Design, among others.
Media coverage for War Toys has spanned the globe to over 30 countries and includes outlets such as The Guardian, Fox News, New York Times, Washington Post, El País, BBC World Service, CNN, PBS News Hour, la Repubblica, and Wired.
Educate: War Toys builds educational programs to benefit children everywhere, not just in war zones. McCarty and his team educate and train caregivers in the field to help children who have been affected by war to process their trauma and emotions. They give organizations the tools they need to provide continued, specialized support for the children under their care. Using education to also invite empathy and understanding, War Toys is developing free, downloadable lesson plans for educators around the world.
In a pilot program with TdH Italia, War Toys facilitated expressive-therapy-based training for local caregivers in Northern Iraq during the war with ISIS.
New educational and training programs are developing in the Middle East in partnership with renowned educational institutions and NGOs. Once established, they intend to expand the program to other areas of conflict.
War Toys is working with an international team of educators and expressive therapy experts to develop free lesson plans that promote empathy and understanding between children who have been directly and indirectly affected by war.
Inspire: Not satisfied with just donating toys to the organizations with whom they work, War Toys is now undertaking an innovative program to inspire more positive play on a global scale. They are fostering small-but-impactful design changes and additions to popular, generic toy lines. They are working directly with the largest toy manufacturers to improve the developmental value, messaging, and representation of their products, harnessing the existing market to reach millions of children everywhere.
War Toys has donated hundreds of toys to the organizations with whom they work in the field for local, equitable distribution to children who have been displaced by war.
As a pilot for their War Toys for Peace program, they are fostering the design, creation, and addition of toy photojournalist figures to sets of plastic soldiers.
Small as the change may seem, the presence of the photojournalists radically alters the inherent play pattern, giving kids more play options than “us versus them” while also promoting press freedom and racial & gender equality.
The photojournalist figures are being modeled from actual women and men known for their work in and around conflict. They will highlight their vital contributions through an accompanying educational and advocacy program.
Is this The Onion???????