Travelogue of An Armchair Traveller: Heidelberg Project - Transforming A Shambled Street Into Pride Of The City

Heidelberg Street of Detroit is located in an area occupied mainly poor families of African-American origin. Till mid eighties the neighbourhood was in shambles and riddled with drugs and poverty related crimes. However in 1986 a local artist Tyree Guyton and his grandfather Sam Mackey started an art project which became known as - "The Heidelberg Project" and transformed the area into an International showcase of collective art.

The artist started the work with the help of local kids and began cleaning and painting the houses with multi-coloured bright dots. They also salvaged rejected toys and household items and decorated the exterior of houses, railings, sidewalks, trees etc. with the items so salvaged. Gradually the streets were transformed into a massive art exhibit, vacant lots became "lots of art" and abandoned houses were converted into "gigantic art sculptures".

Initially the project met with some contempt and condemnation especially from the civic authorities and few of the artworks were forcibly removed/torn down. Gradually it came to be recognised and accepted. A very positive effect of the project has been vast reduction of crimes in the area. Reportedly no serious crime has taken place in the vicinity since the inception of the project.

The project is now Internationally recognised. In 2008, it was one of 15 projects representing USA at the 2008 Venice Architecture Biennale.