After a good night’s sleep we got an early start and made our way over to the Heidelberg Project in the east-side neighbourhood of McDougall-Hunt. Begun in the mid-1980’s as an artistic and political protest against the destruction of the founder’s neighbourhood, the Project is an attempt to reclaim the area’s narrative. While respected internationally as an important installation art, it has also over the years been hit with vandalism and arson, destroying multiple houses on the block.
We were lucky to not just get a chance to explore the Project but also meet the founder and artistic director, Tyree Guyton.
Pink flower car, staring at me.
We took a bus tour out to the neighbourhoods of New Center and Midtown for a short walking tour & lunch. I found this bench while strolling through Midtown.
We took a tour of the Lincoln Street Art Park and Fischer Canyon graffiti alley.
We explored independent workshops, and maker spaces in a reclaimed Corktown industrial building called Ponyride.
Our last stop before heading back across the border was to the infamous Michigan Central Station. Long abandoned, it is being maintained minimally as a decades long debate continues about what to do with it.
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