Tyree Guyton (born August 24, 1955) is an artist from

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 ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. 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. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

. He studied art at

Marygrove College Marygrove College was a private Roman Catholic graduate college in Detroit, Michigan, affiliated with the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It announced its closure on December 17, 2019, at end of the fall semester. History T ...

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...

, and the Center for Creative Studies—now

College for Creative Studies College for Creative Studies (CCS) is a private art school in Detroit, Michigan. It enrolls more than 1,400 students and focuses on arts education. The college is also active in offering art education to children through its Community Arts Par ...

. Guyton counts his grandfather, Sam Mackey, and Detroit artist Charles McGee as his greatest influences.

Early life into adulthood

Guyton was raised on Heidelberg Street, a residential neighborhood on Detroit's east side, which influenced him throughout his life. in his childhood, he frequently visited the Detroit Institute of the Arts with his grandfather. Guyton also grew up during the Detroit riots of 1967. He proceeded to complete high school and serve in the U.S. Army. After his time in the military he decided to pursue his dreams of being an artist. He began taking night classes under the artist Charles McGee, at the College for Creative Studies.

Art career

Since creating the

Heidelberg Project 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 as ...

with his grandfather in 1986, Guyton has received international recognition as an artist, educator, and community leader. The Heidelberg Project is slated to close due to his desire to focus on other projects. Although he is an honorary director on the

board of directors, in recent years he has concentrated his efforts on his art exhibitions as well as on lecturing and teaching. In 2007, he accepted a position teaching an honors program at the

. Guyton's work has been installed and displayed across the world, including a feature in 1999 by the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

in the Art in Embassies Program with an exhibition in the American Embassy in

Quito, Ecuador Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley on ...

. Permanent installations of his work have been established in Sydney, Australia, at the

Detroit Institute of Arts The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, has one of the largest and most significant art collections in the United States. With over 100 galleries, it covers with a major renovation and expansion project comple ...

, and in Mount Vernon, New York. Tyree Guyton has received the following awards for his contributions as an artist and humanitarian: Wayne County International Artist Award (2003), Award of Recognition, Mayor

Kwame Kilpatrick Kwame Malik Kilpatrick (born June 8, 1970) is an American former politician who served as the 72nd mayor of Detroit from 2002 to 2008. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously represented the 9th district in the Michigan House of Repres ...

(2002), Best Known Artist in Metro Detroit,

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(2001), "Michigan Artist of the Year," Governor

John Engler John Mathias Engler (born October 12, 1948) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 46th Governor of Michigan from 1991 to 2003. A member of the Republican Party, he later worked for Business Roundtable, where ''The Hill'' c ...

State of Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

(1992), Humanity in the Arts Award,

(1992), "Michiganian of the Year Award,"

(1991), David A. Harmond Memorial Scholarship (1990), "Testimonial Resolution Award," Wayne County, Lansing, Michigan (1990), "Spirit of Detroit Award," Detroit City Council,

(1989). In 1999, Tyree Guyton was the subject of an HBO Films documentary, "Come Unto Me: The Faces of Tyree Guyton". This film won numerous honors, including an Emmy Award for editing in 2000 and honorable mention at the Sundance Film Festival for director Nicole Cattell. In 2005, Guyton and the

were featured on the

Vision TV VisionTV is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel that broadcasts multi-faith, multicultural, and general entertainment programming aimed at the 45 and over demographic. VisionTV is currently owned by ZoomerMedia, a company ...

documentary "Urban Shrines", produced by Toronto-based Markham Street Films. In 2007 Guyton's work was included in the French documentary ''Detroit: The Cycles of the Mental Machine'', featuring

Techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...

artists Mike Banks and

Carl Craig Carl Craig (born May 22, 1969) is an American electronic music producer, DJ, and founder of the record label Planet E Communications. He is known as a leading figure and pioneer in the second wave of Detroit techno artists during the late 1980s ...

, directed by Jacqueline Caux. The illustrated children's book ''Magic Trash'', by

Jane Shapiro Jane may refer to: * Jane (given name), a feminine given name * Jane (surname), related to the given name Film and television * ''Jane'' (1915 film), a silent comedy film directed by Frank Lloyd * ''Jane'' (2016 film), a South Korean drama fi ...

, covers Guyton's biography and the Heidelberg Project.Magic Trash: New children's book tells story of Heidelberg Project creator Tyree Guyton
AP, October 07, 2011.

References

External links

The Heidelberg Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guyton, Tyrese 1955 births Artists from Detroit Marygrove College alumni College for Creative Studies alumni Wayne State University alumni Living people African-American contemporary artists American contemporary artists 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people