2B — Thursday, February 16, 2017
the b-side
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
On Heidelberg Street, there
exists an oasis. Wedged in
between
lines
of
relatively
empty
streets,
a
wild
conglomeration of discarded
objects and colorful houses lies
sprawled over beaten grass.
Every turn leads to somewhere
new:
The
tucked-away
basement
of
an
abandoned
house hides a sea of cast-off
blue shoes; a series of wood
clocks frames the path to a vast
sign proclaiming: “Art is in the
Eye of the Beholder.”
The
Heidelberg
Project
isn’t pretty. Its many different
pieces aren’t sculpted with
neat
elegance.
Instead,
its
weathered edges gleam with
chipped paint and authenticity.
More
than
refinement,
the
spectacle of the Heidelberg
Project is contained within its
history. Every recycled object,
every broken toy holds a story.
“Let
me
share
a
little
something
with
you,”
said
executive
director
Jenenne
Whitfield warmly as she began
to introduce the Heidelberg
Project. Whitfield explained its
purpose with a bright passion
that mimicked the animation of
the street itself.
“We
describe
Heidelberg
as
a
funky,
outdoor
art
environment,” she said. “It’s
been described as a ghetto
Guggenheim.
It’s
been
described as a playground for
the imagination.”
And
a
playground
it
is,
indeed.
With
houses
like
the vibrant Polka Dot House
(officially
titled
the
“New
White House”) standing near
structures made of scratched
records and broken highway
signs,
it’s
a
space
where
boundaries don’t exist.
“It’s been many things to
many people throughout its
30-year
history,”
Whitfield
said.
The
Heidelberg
Project
means something different to
every person who has viewed it.
But the people who matter the
most, the people who have been
affected the most, are those
surrounding Heidelberg — the
Detroit community.
“Many of the people that
visit
Heidelberg
talk
about
looking at what Tyree has done
and thinking: ‘My God, if this
man can do this, what can I do?’
” Whitfield said.
More than just a street, more
than just an outlandish project,
Heidelberg is an inspiration;
its effect on the surrounding
residents is distinctive from the
experiences of those who drive
in for a day solely to view the
street’s infamous chaos.
“People in the community
who
have
grown
up
with
Heidelberg
have
now
this
creative energy to do other
things,” Whitfield said.
When seeing the wonder of
Heidelberg, there is oftentimes
a
motivation
to
innovate.
Whitfield detailed the example
of Phillip Cooley, co-owner of
Slows Bar BQ in Detroit — a
restaurant Cooley built with
the help of friends, reusing
old pieces in order to build a
now-thriving small business.
Cooley
was
encouraged
by
the Heidelberg Project, the
way it works from within the
community in order to improve
the community, and moved
to Detroit in order to open a
restaurant that operates under
the same notion.
“How many more people
have been inspired by going
and seeing and experiencing
Heidelberg to go and create
something
else?”
Whitfield
mused.
The reason the Heidelberg
Project is so influential is
that it’s so genuine: both in its
appearance, the way timeworn
components are never altered
into
their
more
artificially
pristine versions, and in its
origin.
“When Tyree was six or
seven, his great-grandmother
… told him that he was going to
be a very famous, great man,”
Whitfield said.
Tyree
Guyton
and
his
grandfather,
Sam
Mackey,
created the Heidelberg Project
in 1986. Initially, it was started
only because of a desire to clean
up the neighborhood. After the
Detroit riots of the late ’60s
decimated the area he grew
up in, Guyton attempted to
rebuild: Painting bright colors
on the sides of houses and
affixing them with recovered
materials.
“(Guyton) talked about being
a child at 12 and witnessing
the riots and feeling like the
world was coming to an end,”
Whitfield said. “So that really
became the drive in him.”
What is most vital about
Heidelberg is that it was a
solution that came from within
the community, from someone
who had been directly shaped
by difficulties that had existed
in the Heidelberg area. Guyton
built the Heidelberg Project for
no reason other than to help
the neighborhood he grew up
in. The selfless desire that was
infused into every aspect of
the project allowed it to evolve
into the inclusive installation
that it is today: a work of art
that
welcomes
visitors
but
first and foremost is for the
surrounding
community.
It’s a space for invention and
innovation, hosting venues for
neighborhood youth workshops
and art exhibitions for new
artists.
When
people
outside
of
Detroit talk about the city’s
success, they can only look at
the big picture: new stadiums
built
or
flashy
businesses
constructed
— projects that
are tailored to those living
outside the scope of the city
(and predominantly with a
higher socioeconomic status).
So caught up in the glamour
of the prospect of a “new and
improved” Detroit, many rarely
notice the repercussions of
these large-scale developments
on the people actually living
within the community; the
pillars that Detroit rests on.
The large corporations flocking
to
midtown
or
downtown
Detroit oftentimes push into
the community at the expense
of residents who have inhabited
the same area for generations:
Home prices increase, people
are
shoved
out
and
many
families are forced to relocate.
While these new businesses
have the power to garner
widespread
attention
for
Detroit, there is a danger in
thinking of Detroit as a city that
needs to be fixed.
“(Detroit)
is
not
coming
back because it never went
anywhere,”
Whitfield
said,
“What I find just fascinating
is that people are attracted to
the kind of work that we do and
want to be near us. But then
they bring, with them, their
resources, and that squeezes us
out. Then they’ll get bored with
this area, and they’ll go look for
the next area.”
Detroit
has
a
tireless
energy. Its tenacity to keep
persevering was perhaps born
out of its tumultuous history.
In the early to mid-1900s, the
Great Migration initiated a
large population of African-
Americans to move to Detroit
from
the
southern
United
States. Faced with problems
that stemmed from the city’s
lack of housing combined with
harsh
discrimination
and
subsequent segregation, new
African-American
residents
struggled to find a place in a
city that strove to drive them
out. Detroit is a city whose past
has been largely shaped by the
tension and conflict born out of
exclusion and ignorance.
Still, no matter how many
times Detroit appeared to crack
with the tension fabricated
by segregation and prejudice,
it always found a way to keep
moving forward.
The spirit of Detroit that
current prospective businesses
are attracted to lies in this:
the determination and drive
manifesting from a history
of
hardship.
However,
the
reason so much of this new
development
occurs
at
the
detriment
of
Detroit’s
established community, with
gentrification
becoming
increasingly prevalent in recent
years, is because contenders
who view the city as outsiders
don’t see that the main force
behind
Detroit’s
continuous
persistence has been its people.
The energy of Detroit has
always been contained within
its
inhabitants.
Businesses
that enter the city but do not
recognize the significance of
Detroit’s intrinsic communities
can cause a disconnect: the city
outwardly
projecting
strong
economic advancements that a
majority of its inhabitants do
not have access to.
The increasing exclusion of
the people of Detroit is why
projects like Heidelberg are
so imperative, now more than
ever.
“(Heidelberg) has become a
representation of everything
that Detroit is … it represents
the whole up-from-the-ashes
concept,” Whitfield said. “The
fear that I think a lot of people
have about what is happening
in Detroit and how people
are being left out and not
considered. Well, we say power
to the people.”
The beauty of the Heidelberg
Project does not come from its
physical arrangement of objects,
but rather from the fact that it is
an establishment of the people
and for the people. It works
directly
with
surrounding
communities in order to form
an all-encompassing platform
that encourages imagination
on a personal level. It has the
potential to lead to citywide
economic and infrastructure
developments that benefit the
entirety of Detroit’s population,
not just a small percentage.
Most crucial of all, the
Heidelberg Project does not
shut individuals out.
Even Whitfield herself has
experienced
gentrification
at its finest, with her and her
family currently in the middle
of the process of leaving a place
that they had moved into not
even a decade earlier.
“We’re
moving
from
the
midtown area, which is now
being celebrated as one of the
comeback areas of Detroit,
along
with
downtown,”
Whitfield
said.
“Our
hope,
when we moved here eight
years ago, was that we would
buy this place. But, in the last
three years, it doubled and that
priced us out.”
However,
Whitfield
did
not let these setbacks deter
her from looking toward the
unknown with resolve and
fortitude.
“My attitude has to be: A
place does not make me, I make
a place,” Whitfield said. “So
I’ll go somewhere else, and I’ll
energize that new space.”
It is her steadfast optimism
that ensures the future of the
Heidelberg Project, especially
considering Guyton is stepping
down and promoting Whitfield
to oversee the next saga of the
Heidelberg: Heidelberg 3.0.
She described Heidelberg 3.0
as, “an arts organization that is
offering and opening its doors
to young people and artists all
over the world.”
It’s
an
exciting
prospect
that builds off the original
Heidelberg Project in order to
expand its message. Heidelberg
3.0 hopes to include more young
artists by giving them a space to
explore their ideas, going even
further to immerse art within
communities of people.
The future of Detroit is in
projects like Heidelberg; in
the way it serves to both heal
and elevate the surrounding
communities; in the way it
inspires creativity; and, most
importantly, in the way it
continuously, simply, strives to
represent the people.
SHIMA SADAGHIYANI
Daily Arts Writer
Motor City Guggenheim: Finding
energy of Detroit on Heidelberg
The Heidelberg
Project isn’t
pretty. Its many
different pieces
aren’t sculpted
with neat
elegance
Home prices
increase, people
are shoved out
and many families
are forced to
relocate
Tyree Guyton’s Heidelberg Project emphasizes the power of community to
liven a city; executive director talks influence and future of the project
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