Hey Detroiters, welcome back to Culture Canvas. Hope you had a fun Labor Day weekend!
I wanted to bring some attention to beloved Detroit artist and Heidelberg Project founder Tyree Guyton, who is staying busy.
After opening the exhibit, “40 Years in the Hood: Detroit’s Heidelberg Project” at the Ella Sharp Museum in Jackson earlier this year, Guyton is headed to Wisconsin for his next show.
Titled, “Heidelbergology: Is It Art Now?,” the exhibit opens Sept. 13 at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. The show examines the history of the Heidelberg Project, the neighborhood exhibit known for its polka dot patterns and turning ordinary items like TVs, shoes and vacuum cleaners into art.
The Heidelberg began as a passion project in 1986 by Guyton, who had returned to Detroit from the military and found his childhood neighborhood in decline due to poverty, drugs, and blight. Guyton and his grandfather, Sam Makey, began cleaning vacant lots and, with a paintbrush, turning streets and abandoned homes into polka dot-lined art sculptures. Guyton recruited children in the neighborhood to help, and as the organization expanded over the last 39 years, its dedication to children and more formal youth programs has been the core focus.
Internationally recognized for its artistic, social and political contributions to Detroit, the Heidelberg Project draws thousands of visitors each year.
But the outdoor art exhibit has also faced its challenges. Former mayors Coleman Young and Dennis Archer ordered demolitions of some Heidelberg properties in 1991 and 1999, respectively. In 2015, the Detroit News reported that Heidelberg experienced 12 fires at its properties within a two-year span. Federal authorities suspected arson. In 2019, another fire ripped through the roof of the “You” building on Mt. Elliott.
In 2023, the Heidelberg Project laid off its staff and paused educational programs amid financial hardships exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The board of directors also sold the organization’s headquarters on McDougall Street, which contains two buildings and five lots. The Detroit Food Academy moved into the building earlier this year.
However, things are beginning to turn. Longtime board chair Andrew Sturm became executive director last year and the organization is moving into its next phase by focusing on developing a welcome center and history house.
“Heidelbergology” will feature 10 works from Heidelberg, alongside more than 50 works from Guyton’s art studio, including never-before-seen sculptures, paintings and sketches. The exhibit is a collaboration between Guyton, Sturm, former Heidelberg Project President and CEO Jenenne Whitfield and Kohler Arts Center collections curator Laura Bickford.
I talked with Guyton and Whitfield about connecting with the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, pieces that will be featured in the exhibition and plans for Heidelberg’s 40th anniversary next year. While Whitfield stepped down from the Heidelberg Project in 2022, she remains a special advisor.
BridgeDetroit: How did “Heidelbergology” come together? How did you connect to the Kohler Arts Center?
Whitfield: Our relationship with Kohler goes back to the ‘90s, and that has to do with the fact that the Kohler Foundation in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, are huge fans of outdoor art environments created by artists. This was inevitable in terms of it happening around the 40th anniversary of the Heidelberg Project, and to also have signature items from the Heidelberg Project be removed and sent to the museum. It’s very exciting.
When you look throughout Detroit and in parts of the country and the world, when you see outdoor art popping up in neighborhoods, he (Guyton) was that conduit that opened the door and helped other artists walk through it.
BridgeDetroit: What are some of the pieces featured in the exhibit?
Guyton: One piece is from the project titled “Noah’s Ark.” I created my own version of Noah’s Ark. It’s been here for maybe 25 years. That story is still relevant in my life today. Here’s Noah, he had a vision from God. So did I and that’s why I created the Heidelberg Project. I wanted people to come there and to understand the message behind it, because I believe there’s something greater than mankind that’s controlling everything in the world today. Without a vision, you die, you perish. And I have a vision, and I want people to know that are going to come into that show and see “Noah’s Ark,” that it’s important to have a vision in life.
Shoes are going to be part of this exhibition too, because it’s important to take quantum leaps of faith in this life right now and take big steps.
BridgeDetroit: What do you hope museum visitors in Wisconsin who don’t know about the Heidelberg Project learn in this exhibit?
Guyton: This is my chance as an educator to educate those who have not been here (the Heidelberg Project) and to extend that invitation by having this exhibition at an institution like that. It’s also my way of changing the world. That’s why I created the Heidelberg Project here in the heart of the city in a neighborhood that’s facing a lot of challenges.
BridgeDetroit: Will you eventually bring “Heidelbergology” to Detroit?
Whitfield: I would say that it would be a wonderful celebratory event in honor of the 250th anniversary of this country. At the same time, in 2026, Heidelberg will be 40. So if the door opens for that, we will certainly be open but it would have to be one of the major museums, like the DIA (Detroit Institute of Arts), Cranbrook (Art Museum), or the Charles H. Wright (Museum of African American History).
BridgeDetroit: What do you all have planned for Heidelberg’s 40th anniversary next year?
Whitfield: I will say that other than these exhibitions that we’re planning, there’ll probably be lots of celebratory events right on the street. We do “Second Saturdays at the Heidelberg Project” as it stands now, and I’m sure we’ll continue in 2026.
As always, have a great week!
Cheers,
Micah
313 Scene
- Detroit muralist Jonathan Sandberg has transformed a Pleasant Ridge dispensary wall into a vibrant work of art after winning a community art contest. The 430-square-foot mural by Sandberg, also known as Seymor, now covers the side of Noxx Cannabis at 23622 Woodward Ave. His design, a teal-accented mural featuring a wispy white tree with mist-like roots and glowing square leaves, was selected in May through a public vote after more than a dozen local artists submitted proposals. (Detroit Metro Times)
- Popular and longstanding Corktown darling Slows Bar BQ is bringing its famous barbecue to a brick-and-mortar spot in Ann Arbor. Slows Bar BQ owners announced on social media that Ann Arbor will be home to a third metro Detroit location that will open this fall. (Detroit Free Press)
- Halsey is heading “Back to the Badlands.” The alt-pop artist will perform at the Fillmore Detroit on Jan. 17 as part of the 10th anniversary tour behind her debut album “Badlands.” Tickets for the show go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday via Ticketmaster. A venue presale starts at 10 a.m. Thursday. (The Detroit News)
- The corks are poppin’ at Corktown’s newest spot, wine bar and bookstore Sip-N-Read, which opened its doors to the public Aug. 27. The 2,400-square-foot space is owned and operated by Tamela Todd, author of three nonfiction books and a winemaker. (The Detroit News)
- Windsor’s long-running alt-rock station returned to the airwaves Aug. 28 at CIMX-FM (88.7), following a teaser campaign. The station had been playing country music since 89X was taken off the airwaves in November 2020, following a nearly 30-year run through the heyday of grunge and beyond. (The Detroit News)
What’s Going on in the D?
- The team behind the Detroit Bookfest is hosting the inaugural Detroit Festival of Records from 1-8 p.m. Friday inside Shed 5 at Eastern Market. Also known as Detroit Vinylfest, the free event will feature vendors selling records, CDs, cassette tapes, music-related posters, t-shirts and more. And attendees can dance the day away with DJs such as DJ Frank Raines.
- Singer Charlie Wilson is bringing his “R&B Cookout” to Little Caesars Arena at 7 p.m. Friday. The lineup also includes Babyface, El Debarge and K-Ci Hailey from Jodeci. Tickets are still available via Ticketmaster, beginning at $53.
- As part of Detroit Month of Design, Norwest Gallery of Art is kicking off its latest exhibit, “SustainACity: A Vision for a Thriving, Resilient Detroit,” with an opening reception from 3-7 p.m. Saturday at Robert C. Valade Park. The exhibition will transform the city into an open-air gallery, using visual storytelling to educate, inspire and spark dialogue around climate action, environmental justice and community resilience. In partnership with SaveArtSpace, a national nonprofit that reclaims public advertising spaces for social change, “SustainACity” will present works by local and national artists on billboards throughout Detroit. The event is free, but people are encouraged to register on Eventbrite.
- The Detroit Water Lantern Festival is happening from 5–9 p.m. Saturday at Maheras-Gentry Park. The festival, which has held several events across the country, gathers people together to write down their hopes and dreams on a lantern and send it out on the water. Tickets are $38 in advance and $58 the day of the event.
- Comedians Karlous Miller, Chico Bean and DC Young Fly are bringing their 85 South Show podcast to Little Caesars Arena at 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickers are still available, beginning at $105.
- The Dr. Ossian H. Sweet Foundation’s annual open house is hosting its seventh annual open house from 3-7 p.m. Sunday. This year marks the 100th anniversary of when Ossian Sweet, a Black doctor, moved his family into a house on Detroit’s east side and experienced a horrific racial attack from his neighbors. Derrick Johnson, the CEO of the NAACP, will receive the 2025 Dr. Ossian H. Sweet Legacy Award. Detroit artists Dwele and Charity are set to perform. The event is free, but people can register on Eventbrite.
