Detroit's Heidelberg Project

Public art usually begins with a philanthropic bequest to an artist to create something that gives expression to the the instrinsic meaning of a noteworthy place and/or which enhances public spaces. But sometimes an artistic project bursts forth from the creative impulse of an artist who works on it for its own sake. The Heidelberg Project is such an effort. It is a unique combining of urban landscape, artistic expression and social protest. It is the work of artist Tyree Guyton, who began the project without much public support, and with the occasional hostility of city officials who wondered if painting polka dots on a run-down house or piling up old shoes is really art.

But Guyton never gave up his vision and today his Heidelberg Project is one of Detroit's major tourist attractions. His creations stand in an area of the city that has many abandoned houses and empty lots. It makes use of the buildings on a block of Heidelberg Street and surrounding streets. The displays are all over several blocks and use existing houses (some occupied, some not), discarded objects, representations painted on objects and large boards, and sometimes words conveying a message. The total effect is stunning and unforgettable.

But is it art? Look at the pictures and ask yourself that question. The people who have seen this unique urban display have overwhelming answered "yes," and the public as well as local art schools and artists have supported Guyton. You can learn more and make a donation too at the project website. If you're coming to Detroit, see it for yourself.

Houses Within the Project

Polka Dots cover the street and the houses, and out-of-place objects adorn the tree; note the shopping carts on top of the tree in the middle photo.

Intriguing objects, shapes and symbols cover these houses. One house has stuffed animals stuck to its sides and inside its windows.

Amazing Displays

Social problems that plague Detroit: drug use, lack of access to health care.

Incredible Figures, Shapes, and Faces

Cars, Boats, Planes and Whatever

Heidelberg Project and the State of the City

The Heidelberg Project is a monument to creativity and ingenuity. While Detroit is losing its population and empty buildings are everywhere in this city of ghosts, here the remains of all that is left behind have been turned into art. As I have made visits to different parts of the city, places where I've lived or worked, I've seen so many piles of stuff left on sidewalks or just spilling out of open front doors where no one lives any more. Here on Heidelberg Street all that detritus of changed lives has been assembled into symbolic representations of those lives and what they might have been or meant. The polka dots and bright colors add a cheerfull tone to some serious messages adorning displays. If you visit the project as part of a tour of the city's abandoned neighborhoods, these chaotic-looking displays of left-over "stuff" may begin to make sense. On my last visit, I felt a connection between this vision and the city, with its sad slide downward from industrial giant, once home to busy factories building America's autos, now a place where residents are leaving to go somewhere else. A place where houses sit empty, abandoned and unwanted, stripped by vandals of pipes, siding, fixtures, then wait to be demolished. A city that once had nearly two million people.

Some in Detroit don't like to read or hear "negative" comments about the city. My point here is not to malign Detroit, but to say what I have seen and felt as I've driven around all parts of the city and seen the devastation caused by depopulation. One can endlessly debate the reasons for the decline of Detroit, and you can read my other articles, along with my photos, by following the links below. But what is needed is for the city to reinvent itself into something that will again attract people to want to come and visit and live in Detroit.

The Heidelberg Project is one man's stand against the barrage of trouble that the city has seen over a fairly long span of time. Like Tyree Guyton, I lived in Detroit in 1967 when the riot started, and I spent the frightening days of that event sleeping on the floor of an apartment located at Chicago Blvd and Linwood Ave. My husband and I were newly-weds, and we were too afraid to sleep in our bed, which was next to a window facing the alley. There was a constant sound of gunfire, and out the window we could see piles of loot dumped in the alley, stolen from local businesses. After the riot, people began moving out of Detroit and the city's population has continually declined. What can be done to change it? I don't have an answer, but pretending there's no problem won't help.

Come to Detroit and see what it has to offer: a wonderful history, the remains of some beautiful and historic buildings, and don't forget to visit the Heidelberg Project. Heidelberg Street is on the East Side, between Gratiot and Mount Elliott. Open a Google map and locate it. It can be easily combined with a visit to Belle Isle or the historic Mount Elliott cemetery. You can see the displays on Heidelberg and surrounding streets for free, but please make a donation to support this unique and meaningful project.