The Heidelberg Project is an outdoor art project in the McDougall-Hunt neighborhood on

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

'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 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 The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists someti ...

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 The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence (RBA) was established in 1986 by Cambridge, Massachusetts architect Simeon Bruner. The award is named after Simeon Bruner's late father, Rudy Bruner, founder of the Bruner Foundation. According to the Bru ...

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 Dennis Wayne Archer (born January 1, 1942) is an American lawyer, jurist and former politician from Michigan. A Democrat, Archer served as Justice on the Michigan Supreme Court and as mayor of Detroit. He later served as president of the Amer ...

, 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 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

artist Tim Burke. The Heidelberg Project hopes to offer a new approach to the growing problems of

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...

and

decay Decay may refer to: Science and technology * Bit decay, in computing * Software decay, in computing * Distance decay, in geography * Decay time (fall time), in electronics Biology * Decomposition of organic matter * Tooth decay (dental caries ...

facing many American and other international "

Shrinking cities Shrinking cities or urban depopulation are dense cities that have experienced a notable population loss. Emigration (migration from a place) is a common reason for city shrinkage. Since the infrastructure of such cities was built to support a l ...

". 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 producers filmed a segment for its show ''Made'' using the Heidelberg Project as a backdrop. Fashion model Kate Moss visited the Heidelberg Project with photographer Bruce Webber to photograph the City of

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 Wayne State University Press (or WSU Press) is a university press that is part of Wayne State University. It publishes under its own name and also the imprints Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), ...

. 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 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