Making An Impact

Urban art strikes a visual chord
with Jewish visitors.

Type .1 Gaucher disease }pronounced Ga
Shay) is the most common Jewish genetic ,
disease, and among the least well known, In fact,
it is much more common than Tay-Sachs disease.
The symptoms of Gaucher disease are progressive
and often debilitating Symptoms can begin at any
age.

GAUCHER DISEASE SIGNS & SYMPTOMS

FATIGUE (ANEMIA) • BONE l'AIN • EASY BRUISING AND/OR BLEEDING
•ENLARGED ABDOMEN (SPLEEN AND/OR UVF.R)

Robin Schwartz
Special to the Jewish News

If you are Jewish and of Eastern European ancestry, and would like more information,
call Genzyrne Medical information at 1-800-7454447 (option 27 or visit www.genzynv.com .

A

t first glance, the Heidelberg
Project in Detroit may seem
like a bizarre fantasyland.
There are shoes hanging from trees,
dolls nailed to houses, faces painted
on the hoods of abandoned cars and
thousands of colored polka dots every-
where.
But artist Tyree Guyton has a rhyme
and a reason for every part of his
urban art display on Heidelberg Street.
He even has some Jewish themes
woven into his.work.
Guyton explained the meaning
behind his creations to a group of 35
people during a guided tour of the
project on Sept. 17 sponsored by the
American Jewish Committee and the
Jewish Historical Society.
"It's really powerful to see some-
thing like that in the middle of such
a desolate part of the city," said Jodee
Fishman Raines of Huntington Woods,
who toured the project along with her
two children, Jalen, 10 and Zoe, 9. "It
really gives you hope for rebirth in the
city."
Hope is one of the feelings the proj-
ect is designed to evoke. It's also meant
to highlight the problem of poverty

Fortunately, Gauche!' disease is treatable, and
the earlier the diagnosis the better, because irre-
versible problems orpremature death can occur if
left untreated, if you or your family members are
experiencing any of the followiN symptoms, ask
your doctor if a Gaucher blood test is right far you.

Opp

115 40

Arthur Court

...at
Sherwood

and urban decay, promote conversa-
tion, and make people think. Guyton
is celebrating the 20th anniversary of
the project, which he started with his
grandfather on the street where he
grew up.
Last spring, the AJCommittee
hosted Guyton and his wife, Jenenne
Whitfield, at an event honoring com-
munity activists Barbara and Michael
Kratchman of Bloomfield Hills. At the
time, Guyton invited the Jewish com-
munity to come to Heidelberg Street.
"He spent a lot of time talking about
his vision for the city,' said Raines. "He
wants to create a place for kids and
people to do art."
"I never knew the project was locat-
ed in Detroit's oldest African American
neighborhood, known as Blackbottom,"
said Sharona Shapiro of Bloomfield
Hills, the AJCommittee's Michigan
director. "It was amazing to step off
a bus and see the streets, sidewalks,
seemingly empty lots and houses all

Impact on page

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October 5 2006

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