The Heidelberg Project is an
outdoor art project in the McDougall-Hunt neighborhood on
Detroit's east side, just north of the city's historically African-American
Black Bottom area. It was created in 1986 by the artist
Tyree Guyton
Tyree Guyton (born August 24, 1955) is an artist from Detroit, Michigan. He is married to Jenenne Whitfield and continues to live in Detroit. Before becoming an artist, Guyton worked as a firefighter and an autoworker and served in the U.S. A ...
, who was assisted by his wife, Karen, and grandfather Sam Mackey ("Grandpa Sam").
The Heidelberg Project is in part a political protest, as Tyree Guyton's childhood neighborhood began to deteriorate after the
1967 riots. Guyton described coming back to Heidelberg Street after serving in the Army; he was astonished to see that the surrounding neighborhood looked as if "a bomb went off".
At first, the project consisted of him painting a series of houses on Detroit's Heidelberg Street with bright dots of many colors and attaching salvaged items to the houses. It was a constantly evolving work that transformed an
inner-city neighborhood where people were afraid to walk, even in daytime, into one in which neighbors took pride and where visitors were many and welcomed. Despite the area being characterized by high levels of blight and poverty, the evolving art work grew, Tyree Guyton worked on the Heidelberg Project daily with the children on the block. He and director Jenenne Whitfield gave lectures and workshops on the project around the country. Their main goal was to develop the Heidelberg Project into the city's first indoor and outdoor museum, complete with an artists' colony, creative art center, community garden, amphitheater, and more. In 2005 the Heidelberg Project was awarded the
Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence silver medal.
Demolition and destruction
The city government of Detroit has demolished some of Guyton's projects. The first time was Guyton's "The Baby Dollhouse" in 1989. Then, at five in the morning on November 26, 1991, city bulldozers and police appeared at another one of his art pieces unannounced. They gave him fifteen minutes to retrieve items he wanted to save from destruction.
Another demolition of the Heidelberg Project was ordered under Mayor
Dennis Archer, on February 4, 1999, of the houses Guyton termed "Your World," "Happy Feet," and "The Canfield House".
2013 / 2014 arson incidents
Starting in 2013, a number of houses in the Heidelberg Project have suffered fires. Arson is suspected in most of these cases. To date, there have not been any arrests. Even prior to 2013, arson was common in the McDougall-Hunt neighborhood, as eight to ten houses were estimated to have burned down annually prior to 2006.
2013
On May 3, 2013, the "Obstruction of Justice" house was largely destroyed by a fire beginning around 3:30 am.
Late in the evening of November 11/12, 2013, the "House of Soul" burned to the ground.
Early morning November 21, 2013, the "Penny House" was burned.
Early morning November 28, 2013, the "War House" was burned.
Late evening December 8, 2013, "Clock House" was burned.
2014
Early morning March 7, 2014, "The Party Animal House" aka "The Doll House" was burned.
Early morning September 18, 2014, the house known as "Detroit Industrial Gallery" was burned. The house had been decorated by artist Tim Burke with figurines and placards, and painted different colors.
Early morning September 30, 2014, a house known as the "Birthday Cake House" was burned. This house was not part of the Heidelberg Project, but was located on Heidelberg Street near the project. It was decorated with painted pictures of birthday cakes.
Early morning November 23, 2014, a house known as the "Taxi House" was burned, badly damaging the rear and interior of the house.
25 Years
The Heidelberg Project celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2011.
The Heidelberg Project is recognized around the world as a demonstration of the power of creativity in creating hope and a bright vision for the future. Some of the houses that remain on
Heidelberg Street
The Heidelberg Project is an outdoor art project in the McDougall-Hunt neighborhood on Detroit's east side, just north of the city's historically African-American Black Bottom area. It was created in 1986 by the artist Tyree Guyton, who was ass ...
include the "New White House (formerly Dotty Wotty)", "Number House" along with the Detroit Industrial Gallery, and artist studio/home that was purchased and maintained by
Detroit artist Tim Burke.
The Heidelberg Project hopes to offer a new approach to the growing problems of
urban sprawl and
decay facing many American and other international "
Shrinking cities".
This approach has garnered international attention, especially since the Heidelberg Project continues its maturation. The 20th Anniversary of the Heidelberg Project was celebrated on August 26, 2006, with a community festival, an event that ended a year of special attention.
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
producers filmed a segment for its show ''Made'' using the Heidelberg Project as a backdrop. Fashion model
Kate Moss
Katherine Ann Moss (born 16 January 1974) is a British model. Arriving at the end of the "supermodel era", Moss rose to fame in the early 1990s as part of the heroin chic fashion trend. Her collaborations with Calvin Klein brought her to fas ...
visited the Heidelberg Project with photographer Bruce Webber to photograph the City of
Detroit for a special edition of ''
W'' magazine in June 2006.
Sound file
In 2007, two books were published about the Heidelberg Project. A children's book was written by Linda McLean, and a coffee-table book, entitled ''Connecting the Dots: Tyree Guyton's Heidelberg Project'' was published by
Wayne State University Press. In 2011, the HP released its first children's book, "Magic Trash: A Story of Tyree Guyton and His Art".
In 2008, the project was one of 15 projects representing the United States at the 2008
Venice Architecture Biennale
Venice Biennale of Architecture (in Italian
Mostra di Architettura di Venezia) is an international exhibition of architecture from nations around the world, held in Venice, Italy, every other year. It was held on even years until 2018, but 202 ...
.
Musician
Alex Winston
Alexandra Leigh Winston (born September 28, 1987) is an American indie music, indie pop rock singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
Biography
Alex Winston grew up just outside Detroit. She is classically tr ...
filmed the video for her song "Choice Notes" at the Heidelberg Project.
File:Detroit Industrial Gallery.JPG, Detroit Industrial Gallery
File:Cash Register.JPG, Cash Register
30 Years
In 2016 Tyree Guyton announced that the Heidelberg Project would be dismantled "piece-by-piece in a very methodical way".
The future project "Heidelberg 3.0", is referred to as an "arts-infused community." Potential plans include donating dismantled parts of the installation to museums, and converting the Dotty Wotty House into a museum.
During this period the digital transformation firm Isobar announced plans to utilize drones to capture images of the Heidelberg Project in order to create a virtual reality experience. In 2018, Isobar released the Heidelberg Project app for Apple iPhone and Android mobile devices.
References
External links
The Heidelberg Project official websiteGoogle Street ViewDetroit Industrial Gallery
{{Coord, 42, 21, 31.23, N, 83, 1, 16.88, W, type:landmark_scale:2000, display=title
Art in Detroit
Community development
Public art in the United States