Heidelberg Project

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Front doorstep of "The Dotty-Wotty House"

The Heidelberg Project was created in 1986 by artist Tyree Guyton and his grandfather Sam Mackey ("Grandpa Sam") as an outdoor art environment on Detroit's eastside, a neighborhood referred to as "Black Bottom". The Heidelberg Project is, in part, a political protest, as Tyree Guyton's childhood neighborhood began to deteriorate after the 1967 riots. Following his stint in the Army, Tyree Guyton described coming back to Heidelberg Street. He was astonished to see that the surrounding neighborhood looked as if "a bomb went off". ^[1]

At first, the project consisted of his 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 a hard-core 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. Tyree Guyton worked on The Heidelberg Project every day with the children on the block. He and director Jenenne Whitfield gave lectures and workshops on it 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.

The effect of the Heidelberg Project is displayed through the development of Heidelberg Street. At the other end of the street, there are crumbling houses with lawns covered with waist-high weeds, rubble and rubbish, with no people in sight. Nevertheless, the Heidelberg Project attracts nearly 275,000 visitors a year, now considered a recognized and necessary destination for Detroit tourists.^[2]

1 Demolition
2 20+ Years
3 External links
4 References

[edit] Demolition

On two occasions, the Heidelberg Project faced demolition by the City of Detroit. In November 1991, under Mayor Coleman Young, the Heidelberg Project's "The Baby Doll House," "Fun House" and "Truck Stop" were completely demolished.^{[citation needed]}. Under Mayor Dennis Archer, a second demolition of the Heidelberg Project was ordered on February 4, 1999 that ended in the destruction of the houses Guyton termed "Your World," "Happy Feet" and "The Canfield House."^{[citation needed]} The 1999 demolition did, however, result in Guyton and his supporters' bringing a civil lawsuit against the City of Detroit. The Wayne County Circuit Court ruled that the Heidelberg Project was protected "political speech" under the 1st Amendment as an outdoor art environment.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] 20+ Years

Today, 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.^[3] The houses that remain on Heidelberg Street include the "Dotty-Wotty", "The House that Makes Sense", "Numbers House" and the "House of Words", along with the "Detroit Industrial Gallery", an 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 as the Heidelberg Project continues its maturation. The 20th Anniversary of the Heidelberg Project was celebrated on August 26, 2006 with a free community festival, an event that capped a year of special attention.^{[citation needed]} MTV producers filmed a segment for its show Made using the Heidelberg Project as a backdrop. Supermodel Kate Moss visited the Heidelberg Project with photographer Bruce Webber to photograph the City of Detroit for a special edition of W (magazine) in June 2006.

The year 2007 was a special year for the Heidelberg Project with the release of two books about it. A children's book was written by Linda McLean.^[4] A coffee-table book, entitled Connecting the Dots: Tyree Guyton's Heidleberg Project was published by Wayne State University Press.^[5]