The Shreds Project

Shooting from the hip with a Detroit artist who turns illegal firearms into works of art.

For the last couple of decades, that’s right decades, the city of Detroit, Michigan has been on the receiving end a lot of bad press. Some of it deserved and some of it media hype. The Motor City which it is still referred to as by many was America’s hub for the auto industry, and although it may no longer be in its heyday after the going through two huge auto industry downsizings still kick out over 15 million automobiles each year. Unfortunately, one other moniker the city has been shingled with is Murder City, and based on statistics it has repeatedly been deemed the most violent city in America with over 13,000 violent crimes last year, including 303 murders in 2016 and 267 in 2017. We spoke to Doug Schwartz, an artist and Michigan native who was born and bred in the city of Detroit. He is determined to reclaim a small part of the city to make it safer through his art.