Commissioning Public Art Through Community Engagement Arts to Improve Health and Social-Emotional Well-Being by Reducing Youth Firearm Injury, Detroit, Michigan, 2022-2025 (ICPSR 39450)
Version Date: Feb 18, 2026 View help for published
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s)
Jane Prophet, University of Michigan;
Marc A. Zimmerman, University of Michigan;
Stephanie Tharp, University of Michigan
https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39450.v1
Version V1
Summary View help for Summary
This study examined the effects of public art installations on firearm violence and youth firearm victimization in Detroit. The study also examined the potential moderating effects of the level of community engagement in the development of public artworks on the relationship between public artworks and firearm violence in Detroit. The researchers hypothesized that installations of public artworks would have protective effects for firearm incidents and youth-involved firearm incidents, as measured by completely de-identified crime data provided to their research team by the Michigan State Police (data set not publicly available).
Through this study, the researchers also collected survey and interview data from adults to understand the costs of public artworks and the level of community engagement in the development of public artworks. The researchers hypothesized that higher levels of community engagement in the development of public artworks would enhance the protective effects of public art on firearm violence and youth firearm violence victimization because it would foster protective social resources in communities, such as social capital and social control, that are critical for reducing crime and violence. The researchers also conducted preliminary cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analyses to inform practitioners and policymakers about the feasibility of expanding programming for community-engaged art installations.
The Specific Aims of This Study Are As Follows:
- Aim 1: Examine the effect of art installation projects on total firearm crime incidents involving youth under 18.
- Aim 2: Examine how the level of community engagement in the art installation projects may enhance the effects on firearm crime incidents.
- Aim 3: Conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis of different types of public art and firearm incidents prevented.
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Geographic Coverage View help for Geographic Coverage
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Street segment
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Access to these data is restricted. Users interested in obtaining these data must complete a Restricted Data Use Agreement, specify the reasons for the request, and obtain IRB approval or notice of exception for their research.
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Data Set-Up
The research team collected information about almost 400 public art installations. They gathered details such as the name of the artwork, the date it was created, the location, size, and visibility. Their focus was on the effect of public art in residential areas. In addition to locations broadly zoned residential or business, they identified three common sub-types of location within the 'residential' category that they coded for: public parks, railroad underpasses, and on or adjacent to parcels (individual lots). They used publicly available data for Detroit parks, railroad bridges, and parcels to match similar control sites for each public art location.
Database Artwork Verification Methods
The research team verified the location of each artwork in comparison to its geocoded address by using Google Street View to "walk" through the neighborhoods to find the artwork. The database provides a "detail" reference image as well as a "context" image to help visualize what to look for. They also tracked the installation of each artwork, noting a few instances where it was removed and/or painted over. To narrow down dates for when artworks were installed or significantly altered, the researchers used Google Street View's "see more dates" feature.
Universe View help for Universe
Public art installations on firearm violence and youth firearm victimization in Detroit
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Response Rates View help for Response Rates
1. 400+ public art works in Detroit were documented and added to a database by Research Assistants. The researchers developed 80+ codes with which to categorize each entry in the database.
2. About 25 community members were asked to complete surveys about the role of public art. The study team recruited them using snowball sampling and emails, resulting in 54 survey responses. Each respondent could earn incentives for providing details of up to 5 artworks.
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This study is maintained and distributed by the National Archive of Data on Arts & Culture (NADAC). NADAC is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.