Kupai Marx ’24 and Kieran Blood ’24 have been awarded a Davis Project for Peace for their project of turning weapons into community-based art in Hawai’i.
“We aim to support the mission of addressing gun violence and promoting peacebuilding through creative activism,” says Marx, an Environmental Studies major who is originally from Hawai’i. “Inspired by the RAWtools model, the work of this project is to transform confiscated firearms into garden tools and art, symbolizing the transformation of violence into constructive and peaceful endeavors.”
RAWtools is a Colorado Springs-based group that works to end gun violence by encouraging people to donate their guns to them and in return receive a garden tool made from that gun at no cost to the individual.
The primary objective of Marx and Blood’s project is to establish a RAWtools chapter in Waimanalo, O’ahu. The students say that Waimanalo is predominantly Native Hawaiian and is a historically underserved community that struggles with homelessness and drug-related violence, which is exactly why this project is so important.
“The community struggles with violence, and holds promise for community healing through its numerous agricultural organizations,” Marx and Blood wrote in their project proposal, entitled Forging for Peace: Weapons into Plowshares through Community-Based Art in O’ahu, Hawai’i. “Our project’s mission is twofold: to mitigate community violence by securing weapons, and to foster community development through farming via the transformation of these guns into garden tools.”
“We aim to support the mission of addressing gun violence and promoting peacebuilding through creative activism.”
Kupai Marx ’24
Established in 2007 by philanthropist Kathryn Wasserman Davis, Projects for Peace is a global program that partners with educational institutions to support young peacebuilders. About 125 students are awarded $10,000 grants each year to implement their Project for Peace, which can take place anywhere in the world. There are 129 projects from 94 partner institutions included in the 2024 Projects for Peace cohort.
Marx and Blood plan to use their awarded grant money to create a pilot branch of RAWtools, where the students will create infrastructure with the necessary equipment for deconstructing guns and forging them into new tools. Following that, Marx and Blood will host community forging workshops and invite the RAWtools founders to help teach community volunteers about the forging process.
“These activities not only offer practical skills in metalworking and forging but also serve as a platform for fostering community development,” says Blood, an Art major with a concentration in Integrated Design and Architecture. “By providing an outlet for creative expression and problem-solving, the project empowers youth and promotes positive change.”
“Our project’s mission is twofold: to mitigate community violence by securing weapons, and to foster community development through farming via the transformation of these guns into garden tools.”
Kupai Marx ’24 and Kieran Blood ’24
Marx and Blood say their project promotes peace in three ways, with the first being that it helps to get guns off the streets.
“The presence of a weapon decimates the ability and impetus to search for creative, non-violent solutions,” Marx wrote in the proposal. “In other words, if your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. Every firearm that is taken out of circulation takes our island one step away from violence and towards more creative, generative strategies for justice and problem solving. Additionally, the act of literally transforming a firearm into a tool for growing food or an object of beauty is a radical act of generative futurism.”
“Lastly, engaging the community in such an activity introduces them to a process that not only provides an outlet for expression and creativity, but shows them how they can actively shape their own future and forge healthy relationships with physical labor and creative process,” the students say. “Forging is not easy work, but it provides a uniquely rigorous and cathartic process through which one can constructively channel anger and frustration without turning to violence or abuse.”
Marx and Blood say that their project allows them to not only engage in reactive work, like repurposing weapons, but also in proactive work, by addressing the roots of violence in the community and working towards promoting peace.
“If your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. Every firearm that is taken out of circulation takes our island one step away from violence and towards more creative, generative strategies for justice and problem solving.”
Kupai Marx ’24
To complete their project, the students partnered with RAWtools, Full Circle Farm, and WoodWorking Hawaii, who are providing support and space for the project once they begin their work in Hawai’i.
Marx first learned about RAWtools during his Foundations of Nonviolence class with Evan Weissman. After being inspired by the group’s work, Marx began volunteering with them.
Both students agree that CC played a major role in helping them win a Davis Project for Peace award. Marx and Blood took advantage of the many opportunities available to them on campus, including utilizing the Advising Hub, the Quantitative Reasoning Center, and reaching out to previous professors.
“Through navigating these support systems, we have become more prepared to thoroughly plan and apply for this award,” Blood says. “Furthermore, the liberal arts education imparted to us an attention to various lenses to analyze projects through social, artistic, and educational principles.”