Detroit's iconic Heidelberg Project sets new executive director, heads toward new phase

One of Detroit’s most iconic outdoor art installations is entering a new era of development and progress, including a welcome center, history house and, most importantly, work from new artists.

The Heidelberg Project, visionary artist-philosopher Tyree Guyton’s wild and whimsical setup in the McDougall-Hunt neighborhood, is located on Heidelberg and Elba Place streets between Ellery and Mount Elliott. It’s been there since 1986, growing and changing a little every year, drawing hundreds of thousands of art lovers and curious onlookers from literally around the world to witness Guyton’s creations.

This spring, longtime Heidelberg board chair Andrew Sturm stepped into the executive director role at the project as Guyton and the team look ahead to its next phase.

“Things are going, really, in a great direction,” Sturm said. “We are really refocusing our efforts on the art environment itself. Over the years, the art environment has inspired and spawned a lot of different programming — lots of arts, education, things like that — which has been really great. (But) one challenge has always been helping people understand how programs work with the art environment. When we look forward, I think the real focus is on renovating, reactivating, doubling down on the art environment and specifically transitioning from what people think of today as a Tyree Guyton project into a Detroit-specific project.

“What I mean by that is, museums are starting to be interested in collecting this work, Tyree’s work. So as his work starts to get collected and taken into museums, that opens up an opportunity to continue changing the site by bringing in new artists. We’re in our 38th year. That idea of bringing in new artists is a way to keep the change Tyree’s always created on the site while also giving over ownership to new artists’ voices to continue for the next 40 years.”

Guyton remains actively involved in the process despite officially stepping aside in title.

“We’re really working hand in hand,” Sturm said. “Me as the executive director and Tyree as the artistic director. He’s starting to get more and more opportunities for work outside of Heidelberg, but he’s very much invested in — and will be invested in — the project going forward. He recognizes that for it to grow, and for it to be the kind of gift to Detroit that he’s always imagined, it needs more artistic voices. He’ll be here to guide that transition, because of his roots growing up in the neighborhood and having created and shepherded the project for the last 38 years.

“Because we have 20 years of working together, we have a great working relationship and a shorthand that allows us to work together in a unique way. There probably aren’t many duos that could do that with every project.”

The project has recently narrowed its focus on the core grounds on Heidelberg and Elba, selling off other lots in fringe locations around the area.

“Over the next five years,” said Sturm, “what we’d really like to do is double down on that art environment space. We haven’t had a space on-site where we can welcome people, where people can use the restroom or buy merchandise and things that help us stay sustainable. We still have two art houses on-site and a number of properties. The idea is to renovate those properties and also create a revenue-generating gallery and welcome space on one of the vacant properties, so that we can offset the costs of maintaining everything.”

The planning phase also includes a Heidelberg Project history house, maintaining the history of how the concept evolved to its current point at any given time. There are also goals of making the site more accessible. Sturm said he also hopes to work with the city of Detroit to get a city park on the side of Ellery Park renovated.

Detroit City Council president Mary Sheffield has been a supporter of the project since taking office in 2014.

"The Heidelberg Project's plans to add a gallery and welcome center, community space and educational component in the heart of the art installation is exciting and admirable," Sheffield said. "It will further enhance its position as a tourist destination and hopefully spur more development and investment in a historic area of the City that desperately needs it.

"The Heidelberg Project is poised to empower a new generation of artists and inspire people from all over the world in the foreseeable future. The story behind its existence and the story it tells through its art is an important lesson on urban renewal that must (be) told. Given the state of politics in the nation, America needs to be reminded of this tale of Black removal so we aren't destined to repeat it."

Guyton said the new phase came to him in a time of reflection, referencing the many clocks that dot the installation.

“Time has a way of bringing it to you that you need to change,” Guyton told the Free Press. “That’s why you see all these clocks out here. You can’t be afraid of change. You change for the best. So here we are — we’re getting ready for the future, now. And, well, the future for the Heidelberg Project looks pretty damn good. And what makes me say that is I believe in my ability, and then also this young man here, Andy Sturm. I believe in him, and together, we’re going to create a new reality, a new future.”

Guyton currently divides his time between Detroit and Baltimore, where his wife lives and works.

“I’m going to be doing a lot of traveling,” he said, “but I’m going to be coming back. I’m going to be working very closely with Andy. And I’m going to give Andy the freedom to show me what he’s thinking. I’ll be coming back to check on things and we’ll be in touch constantly. I’m going to follow his lead, but I have said it to him and I’ll say it to you: I’m here when he needs me.”

Roula David, owner of popular east side bar and night club Spot Lite (and new owner of the former UFO Factory indie rock venue) recently stepped into the position of board chair at Heidelberg after years of service as a board member.

“I think we’re exactly where we need to be,” she said. “Focused on the art environment on the street, focused on the street itself. I think we need to refocus back onto the art there and make it a more rich experience. When people come down the street, they’ll have wayfinding, ways to understand more of Tyree’s story.”

Project maintenance and groundskeeper Stephen Snead has lived in the neighborhood for half a century, and calls Guyton “a brother and a friend.”

“I’ve been here all my life,” Snead said. “We basically grew up together. We’ve seen over a million people come to this project. I meet a lot of people from all over the world. It brings a lot of us together outside of that ‘black-and-white’ box.”

Artist and designer Tanya Stephens is another neighbor of the project.

“I want to say about 250,000-plus visitors come to Detroit annually to see it,” she said. “Like, they have their own little tourist economy, because people come to Detroit — especially people from Europe, Germany and France especially.”

Guyton said the project has welcomed guests from 144 countries.

“And it means a lot for the neighborhood, for the city and for the world,” he said.

And what if The Heidelberg Project ceased to exist?

“I don’t want to entertain that thought,” Guyton said. “It is so needed now. And it’s needed by the people that come here locally and from all over the world.”

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At this moment, on-site at the project, a car pulled up with a man and a woman inside. They greet Guyton warmly.

“He’s the Detroit Basquiat, man,” the gentleman exclaims. “He can’t stop!”

Guyton beamed. “Can’t stop, won’t stop!”

The woman said, “We came to see if you’ve done any updates.”

Guyton pointed to a nearby location. “There’s some new stuff just right here, down the street.”

The three exchanged goodbyes.

“Stay beautiful,” Guyton called out as they pulled away.

Sturm mused about the mirthful, pensive, intensely charismatic Guyton and his process.

“I used to tell people that he’s sort of like a cross between Socrates and the Buddha,” Sturm said. “You ask him a question and you get three questions back. And that part of his process — most of what he’s trying to do with his art — is really get people to think for themselves, and think about how things could be different.

“Over the 20 years I’ve been able to collaborate with him, he’s come with so much energy. He wakes up every day and is like, ‘It’s a beautiful day, brother! What are we going to do today?’ And he has a great vision for what the neighborhood needs, what the site needs.”

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Sturm said their combined backgrounds and work styles make an ideal partnership for forging the project’s new era.

“He knows everybody, and knows a lot about them, because he’s lived there his whole life, and that’s a great thing to have. And I know a lot about the organization, how it’s flowed, its challenges and benefits, but he knows a lot about the site. The ability to bring those two things together with my background in architecture and community development and his in art, and his way of finding new solutions and creating new realities …it’s a great tension and we use that to bring our ideas to scale.”

Most of all, Guyton said he hopes The Heidelberg Project continues to give people reasons to think about themselves and the community and world around them.

“I’m excited,” he said. “I’m excited about life — something to live for, something to die for. Here we are, 40 years almost, and we’re going to take it into the future.”

Learn more about The Heidelberg Project at heidelberg.org.

Contact Free Press arts and culture reporter Duante Beddingfield at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit's iconic Heidelberg Project sets new exec director, new future