In response to U.S. gun violence, this blacksmith melts guns into garden tools
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado — In the aftermath of national tragedy, artists often look to bring messages of peace to their communities.
In Colorado Springs, Colorado, one organization transforms donated guns into workable garden tools in a powerful way.
RAWtools founder Mike Martin accepts weapons donations, stripping them of metal. Then, using a process of smelting and metalwork, he turns these former firearms into handheld garden tools.
RAWtools visits cities nationwide with their message of peace, engaging gun violence survivors in a healing and restorative process around the anvil.
During these visits, survivors and those who have lost loved ones to gun violence gather in community centers, churches, and parking lots to share their stories. Outside, they approach the hot iron, hammer in hand, and — with each strike — release years of pain and grief. As a crowd stands by in witness, enveloping the scene with a community's strength and support, the hammer is passed, and a new tool is forged.
Martin said the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School motivated him to put his faith into practice, a way to address gun violence through direct means.
This report originally appeared on Rocky Mountain PBS' "Arts District."
Support Canvas
Sustain our coverage of culture, arts and literature.
In her new collection of columns from The Wall Street Journal, Pulitzer Prize-winner Peggy Noonan takes readers on a journey…
If you've ever wanted to own a piece of Hollywood history, now's your chance. A pair of Dorothy's ruby slippers…
When Centurion was founded, it was the first group of its kind working to overturn wrongful convictions for people facing…
As major American museums reexamine their collections to ensure diversity and inclusion, there's a growing realization that they need more…
As a dancer, choreographer, director and speaker, Jamison's distinguished career leaped over barriers of race and gender.
In the 1980s, about 70 percent of clothes sold in the U.S. were made in the country. Today, it's down…
This is her first time receiving nominations in the country and Americana categories.
For many Muslim and Arab Americans, Israel's wars in Gaza, Lebanon, and the wider Middle East are personal, and so…
A giant in the music and entertainment industry has died. Quincy Jones, known to many as 'Q,' was revered as…
Jones rose from music school dropout to the very heights of show business, becoming one of the first Black executives…
Kamala Harris made a surprise appearance on "Saturday Night Live" in the final days before the presidential election, playing herself…
During the final days of this tense election, we take a look at a project fostering a different type of…
The 33-year-old Grammy winning artist, whose given name is Jeffery Williams, entered his pleas without reaching a deal with prosecutors…
With the election days away, there is no shortage of reflections on American politics and democracy. Photographer Paul Shambroom has…