The Heidelberg Project is one of the largest, best-known, and longest-running site-specific art installations in the country. Occupying more than two blocks along Heidelberg Street on Detroit’s East Side, the project has transformed its neighborhood, covering abandoned houses, the street, and the surrounding area with collections of found objects and vividly rendered paintings. Celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2016, the Heidelberg Project has been the life’s work of artist Tyree Guyton. Guyton grew up on Heidelberg Street, and was encouraged by his housepainter grandfather to choose art as an alternative to drugs and guns. Guyton began the project with his family, and with the help of neighborhood children, they gathered discarded objects, from toys and clothes to televisions and furniture. They painted abandoned houses on the street with bright house paints and attached objects to the exteriors, turning them into gigantic assemblage sculptures. Most
