The Heidelberg Project is an outdoor art environment in the heart of an urban community on Detroit’s near-east side. The installation was started in 1986 by artist and local resident Tyree Guyton who covered abandoned houses, the street, and the surrounding area with found objects and paintings that express vivid personal, social, and sometimes political themes. The street was gradually transformed into a lively, visually arresting, and often controversial work of art that not only energized the local community but attracted visitors from around the world. Over the last three decades, the project has morphed from the work of a single artist into a broad-based collaboration between Guyton, Executive Director Jenenne Whitfield, and their team of volunteers.

On the occasion of the 30-year anniversary of the Heidelberg Project, Tyree Guyton and Jenenne Whitfield look back over their dramatic journey as they contemplate new possibilities for the future. Exhibition curator MaryAnn Wilkinson will offer remarks about the exhibition at UMMA and Mr. Guyton’s work within the context of the global art community.

Browse the exhibition; and light refreshments will follow the program. Lead support for this exhibition is provided by the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Lisa Applebaum, and the University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning and School of Social Work.