Detroit city leaders have once again been thwarted — at least temporarily — attempting to dismantle the Heidelberg Project. The Project has been the junk sculpture vision of inner city artist Tyree Guyton since 1985. The Detroit city council voted to remove the displays, which are mostly on city-owned land, but a last-minute restraining order from a circuit court judge stopped all action until after a hearing on October 1.

Guyton has created numerous statements from garbage, discarded appliances and found junk along the 3600 block of Heidelberg Street. He's painted slogans on abandoned houses, strategically piled old shoes and turned the neighborhood into a living statement about poverty and slums. It's a wild array of folk extrusions, polka dot houses, trees, cars, and Finster-esque faces painted on windows.

Like Houston's Orange Show, the Heidelberg Project attracts more than its share of smitten preservationists and is a rallying point for the folk art community. Detractors claim Guyton is a shameless self-promoter — but is that a bad thing? Defenders claim it is the third most popular tourist attraction in Detroit. [09/27/1998]

February 10, 2012