Siddiqui 1

Maariya Siddiqui
Dr. Aaron Martin
Honors 1000
9 November 2016
Where Are We Going?
When Tyree Guyton came back to Heidelberg Street after serving in the army, he was
awestruck by the state of his former home in Detroit, which had been in a rapid decline since the
12th Street Riots occurred in 1967.1 The Detroit that he saw when he came back in 1986
contrasted with the economic powerhouse it had been in at the peak of the automobile boom in
the mid-1900s. As the citys economy collapsed, the population was driven out, beginning in the
1950s. The people were leaving by the hundreds of thousands, and the move was facilitated by
the extensive highway systems leading out of Detroit and the uniform suburban homes that had
been built outside of the city.
While the creation of these new urban forms could be seen as a positive thing because the
economic success of Detroit was spreading to the rural areas, it encouraged the poor citizens to
move to the cheaper and convenient homes that were built, even if that meant fleeing the city.2
As Martelle said, empty land in the rural areas was cheaper than prime land in Detroit. It was
economically and socially logical to move out of the city, especially at a time when racial
segregation was thriving and jobs were moving out of the city and into the suburbs.3 While
discussing the migration of people out of the city during in-class collaboration, we credited the

T, C. C. Tyree Guyton and the Heidelberg Project. 2014. Actipedia.org, Detroit.

Dean Herron Lecture on November 7, 2016: How Did We Get to Northland?
3
Martelle, Scott. Detroit: A Biography. N.p.: Chicago Review, 2014. Print.
2

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increased mobility of Detroiters that occurred due to the building of highways after the Highway
Act of 1956 was passed by President Eisenhower.4 Increased mobility was not the only factor
that contributed to the movement of people out of Detroit. The mass culture of the time that led
to uniform suburbs in the metropolitan area and the racial conflicts in the real estate industry can
also be credited. Mass culture began with the media, advertising, and radio which drilled uniform
thoughts into peoples heads, including social views and values on what the ideal life looked
like.5 This included what kind of houses people thought were best to live in, which was
subconsciously engrained in their mind using the BKE. Racial segregation was relevant at the
time as well. People of color struggled to find affordable housing and were forced into living
conditions that were unsafe and unhealthy due to being pushed into the impoverished areas by
race lines drawn by white people who did not want their neighborhoods integrated and devalued.
As shown in the case of Ossian Sweet, a threat to the sanctity of the white neighborhoods, that
consisted of wealthier people and were not affordable to the black population except for a few
select cases including Ossian Sweet, was not taken well. This resulted in a violent fight between
the Sweet family and their supporters and the white people who wanted them out.6 This divide
between races and wealth had been relevant long before this, as can be shown by Gatsby. When
the narrator Nick says, A limousine passed us, driven by a white chauffeur, in which say three
modish Negroes, he is showing his disbelief that there could even be black people who were
wealthy enough to afford that.7 The correlation between race and wealth was engrained in
peoples minds, and that difference was a reason to discriminate in peoples minds at the time.

In-Group Collaboration
Cohen, Lizabeth. A Consumers Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America. New York:
Knopf, 2003. Print.
6
Boyle, Kevin. Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age. New York: H. Holt, 2004.
Print.
7
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York City, New York: Scribner Classics, 1996. Print.; page 58
5

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The migration of people out of Detroit left Heidelberg Street with only a handful of
people left and a neighborhood that was falling apart. Artist Tyree Guyton saw this in his old
home and had the desire to reverse the negativity of the ruins, saying, [art] creates energy in a
negative space.8 Guyton worked with his grandfather Sam to create art with abandoned
possessions left in the city over a span of 30 years. His goal was to turn the space that was

an eyesore and a constant reminder of the decline of the city of Detroit into something that
brought light to a negative situation and the community together. One of the few people who still
live on Heidelberg Street said that the space is a safe haven that has let her meet people from
across the globe, and the crowds have made the surrounding neighborhood safer, as well.9 Not
only did Guyton create art out of the wreckage of the city, he made the Heidelberg Project a
tourist attraction that created a deeper sense of community and brought people together due to a
shared appreciation for art and the beautification of Detroit. While it can be argued that it does
not truly bring the community together because the population is still at a decline in the area, it

Herron, Jerry. "Getting to the Heidelberg Project." Introduction. Connecting the Dots: Tyree Guyton's Heidelberg
Project. Detroit: Wayne State UP, 2007. N. pag. Print.
9
Bethencourt, Daniel. "New Plans for Heidelberg Project Spark Confusion, Hope." Detroit Free Press. N.p., 14
Aug. 2016. Web. 5 Nov. 2016.

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does inspire similar acts of collaboration that bring the people together throughout the city,
such as rebirthing projects that have popped up throughout the city.10 The city of Detroit is going
towards a positive new path of rebirth through collaboration and embracing the past hardships as
part of what brought the city to where it is now.

10

Walters, W. S. "Turning the Neighborhood Inside Out: Imagining a New Detroit in Tyree Guyton's Heidelberg
Project." TDR: The Drama Review, vol. 45 no. 4, 2001, pp. 64-93. Project MUSE,
muse.jhu.edu/article/33105.

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Works Cited
Bethencourt, Daniel. "New Plans for Heidelberg Project Spark Confusion, Hope." Detroit Free
Press. N.p., 14 Aug. 2016. Web. 5 Nov. 2016.
Boyle, Kevin. Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age. New
York: H. Holt, 2004. Print.
Cohen, Lizabeth. A Consumers Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar
America. New York: Knopf, 2003. Print.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York City, New York: Scribner Classics, 1996.
Print.
Herron, Jerry. "Getting to the Heidelberg Project." Introduction. Connecting the Dots: Tyree
Guyton's Heidelberg Project. Detroit: Wayne State UP, 2007. N. pag. Print.
Martelle, Scott. Detroit: A Biography. N.p.: Chicago Review, 2014. Print.
T, C. C. Tyree Guyton and the Heidelberg Project. 2014. Actipedia.org, Detroit.
Walters, W. S. "Turning the Neighborhood Inside Out: Imagining a New Detroit in Tyree
Guyton's Heidelberg Project." TDR: The Drama Review, vol. 45 no. 4, 2001, pp. 64-93.
Project MUSE, muse.jhu.edu/article/33105.