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Heidelberg Project
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13 reviews for Heidelberg Project
What I love most about this obscure place is that you could walk this street 20 times and still find something new. My favorite house in the dotted one. It's so colorful and reminds me of Dr. Suess. Sometimes I wish it would be the norm for all of Detroit to be that colorful...it might make it a brighter place to be.
Go Tyree for creating this. And all you peeps who love the D, this is another one of those can't-miss spots!
I have taken many poeple to the Heidelberg Project. I think it is one of those great quirky places that makes Detroit Detroit. what I have learned from their reaction is that it does help to have a BASIC knowledge to truly appreciate what is going on there. Most of the following was borrowed, ok stolen, from the HP website and modified for my own use, but maybe you can gain helpful insight from it before taking a trip to see it:
DOTTY WOTTY HOUSE = Universal harmony
Guyton uses polka dots to represent diversity. Like polka dots, people can come in all shapes and sizes, but essentially all are created the same manner and are equal.
FACES OF GOD/FACES IN THE HOOD
Guyton firmly believes all people are created in God's image, regardless of all their physical differences.
THE NUMBER HOUSE = Numbers game the city government plays with its citizens. Guyton believes that even after all this time; the city has done little to minimize the scars of the 1967 riots. Since its inception there has been many views on its worth - some people think it's a collection of junk, others see it as a representation of hope. The Numbers House speaks about different perspective people bring to a situation. It is the goal of the Heidelberg Project to bring people together to search and work towards solutions.
THE OVAL ROOM - small yard next to the OJ House
The vacuum cleaners represent a way to clean up the blight and despair the city is experiencing. The gloves/shoes on the handles of the vacuums represent how governments often try to "keep their hands clean" in particular situations.
I was excited to run into the artist the last time I went. He is definately part of the attraction, and made for quite a memorable visit.
While I think the Heidelberg Project is fascinating, I had an experience there that left a bad taste in my mouth... The artist (Tyree Guyton) was on site one Saturday. I recognized him and pointed it out to my friends, one of whom went up to him to ask him about thee Taxis that were displayed throughout the project. Tyree refused to answer any questions, instead suggesting repeatedly that my friend buy a $10 guide to the project. I know the project needs financial support to stay afloat, but it felt as though we were being hustled. Of course, the fact that the Executive Director of the HP is also the wife and manager of the artist makes it difficult to know what's being done to support the project's efforts to lift up the community versus what's being done for the sake of promoting the artist.
Biz Bamn! This project is amazing. Check it out the next time you are roll'n through Dee Town smok'n indo sipp'n on gin & juice. You know what I'm talk'n about!
We lived just a few miles from the Heidelberg Project during our tenure in Detroit (we left almost a year ago). In the midst of a very run-down neighborhood (which, unfortunately, is true of much of Detroit at this point), Tyree Guyton has managed to do something very special and colorful. He works with inner-city children and inspires them & gives them hope. Instead of just accepting the demise of a neighborhood, Guyton has given his time and devotion to make it better. The HP is hopeful, whimsical and life-affirming. Guyton has shown that one person CAN make a difference! If you feel as I do, please think about giving (even a very small) donation via the HP's web site. You will help Guyton make a difference in the lives of more inner-city Detroit children.
Named for the street in which it's found, the Heidelberg Projects is proof of the thriving art community and hope in a city that is oft deemed hopeless. Recognized as one of the world's most influential art environments the Heidelberg Projects started in the mid 80's by award winning artist Tyree Guyton and his grandfather. Guyton and his family began collected refuse that littered their neighborhood and transformed vacant lots into lots of art.
The refuse thrown like confetti along the streets was used to adorn houses and transformed them into crazy kaleidoscopic sculptures, lawns were filled with vintage vacuum cleaners to create a one of a kind public art project and even the trees became art when Guyton adorned them with stuff animals.
I have been coming to the Heidelberg for as long as I can remember and for as long as I can remember every time I stroll down the street, camera in hand, there's something new buried amongst the sculptures-telephones, found photos, toy figurines and more. It's almost like a graveyard of found objects. This is a place you just have to go to, to truly experience the magical, resourceful, inventive ingenious of internationally recognized Guyton.
This really borders on greatness. It is ever changing -- it kind of reminds me of this short story I read in a Short Story issue of Vice magazine. It involved a super-ego duck who ran through rooms in the mind.
Looking at this gives me the same emotion I felt when reading that story -- fear and glee.
I first found out about the Heidelberg Project the year I got my first car - that was 11 years ago! I've been back at least once a year since then, and it's true; it changes. Each time I encounter the installation it's like a totally different one entirely.
There's so much to look at that a comprehensive list of things happening in this installation would be impossible. There's telephone poles covered with stuffed animals, a lawn of vacuum cleaners (or... there was at one time. Hard to keep track.) My favorite is the house with the giant tubes coming out of it.
I'm so not going to art-out about the significance of the installation, but I will say that I did see a exhibition of Heidelberg material last year, and seeing it in the flesh (so to speak) is much more fulfilling! Come on... it's free and a good afternoon out!
One thing to look out for when around town is painted dots much like the dots that appear in Heidelberg - that's Guyton's tag!
The street keeps evolving. There are constantly new pieces and twists added. Shoes, stuffed animals, vacuum machines, doors, automotive parts, and gallons and gallons of paint are all a part of the project, which creates an odd harmony altogether.
Pieces from the Heidelberg Project is currently featured at Elaine L. Jacob Gallery in Wayne State University now until mid-December. I went to their opening reception, and the people on the project (including Mr. Guyton himself) were the nicest and most friendly people.
I remember watching the news and hearing protest from neighbors that were upset about the Heidelberg Project. My mother decided my sister and I should see it for ourselves. So there we were, headed to east side of Detroit to see what all the hoopla was about. Then it appeared, out of no where seems like. Amongst this dilapidated neighborhood was someones vision. Amongst the despair hope had survived. We may not all agree with this artistic expression but we must applaud his vision.
Its a gem in the middle of a run-down part of the city. I've met Mr. Guyton when he spoke at one of my art classes. To say that he resented the city's government would be an understatement. Really interesting back story to this project. I encourage everyone to read up on it.
The project itself is about a block of graffiti art that adds a splash of color to an otherwise vacant and scary street. Guyton's family helped him clean up many of the abandoned lots, where a mix of painted buildings, installation pieces, and junkyard sculpture come together in a true spectacle. A polka dot theme runs through the entire block, creating a very colorful and aesthetically pleasing experience. Beneathe the paint lies the ruins of homes that were once impressive family residences.
My experience at the site was a mix. Its beautiful and tragic at the same time. With the city of Detroit actively trying to destroy the art work to bring less media attention to the city's decay, Guyton has been struggling keeping this project alive. All metro Detroiters that want to see one of the most visible representation of the city's plight need to see this art.
Post Apocalyptic Exuberance. Detroit is a city splotched with impoverished and somewhat abandoned neighborhoods. Once vibrant areas are now filled with vacant lots and falling down buildings. Tyree Guyton is the mastermind of the Heidelberg Project. He watched the neighborhood where he had grown up and still lived in turn into one of these splotches. Along with his grandfather and wife, he began to clean up his street, taking the discarded items they found and grouping them with manic intensity along the block to create a large scale art setting that would make people think. "The real hope lies in changing the minds of people. People wont change their minds if they never face the truth." - Tyree Guyton.
The project has received numerous awards and is one of the top tourist destinations in the city. Despite this, the city demolished parts of the Project in 1991 and 1999. Nevertheless, the Heidelberg Project continues. I highly recommend a visit.
Why didn't I figure you can write a Yelp review for the Heidelberg Project? This place is odd and quirky and I love it. I never truly understand the politics behind it... and regretfully I actually made an effort to. My version of the jist is that he likes to dress up abandoned homes with pokka dots and junk art and also tries to involve the kids in the neighborhood so they don't become drug dealers but somehow the city tries to suppress him...? I don't know why a city of thousands of abandoned homes would care, but again I don't understand most politics at the D anyway. All I know is that I love going to the Heidelberg Project and I would recommend it to anyone with an open and adventurous mind. Although I would not wander past the block that it is, or take any of the side streets while getting there...
