"Meet Me Half Way"

  

I have been taking an afternoon each month to learn more about the issue  of homelessness in the region.   I do this by walking and driving neighborhoods with two of our 211 associates as they link resources to individuals through our 211 on the Go initiative.   Every time I go out, I learn.   I learn about the steep climb in front of us in this region.  I learn about the condition of our neighbors.   I learn about someone's story. 

The other day we came upon a couple of individuals waiting for the bus not too far from the Eastern Market.   One young man from Roseville was interested in learning more about job networks, housing possibilities and transportation.   The other individual had made his way--in part-- by making and selling beautiful walking sticks.   He sold them for $65.    During the conversation with our 211 associate John,  the craftsman began to talk about a friend of his who created The Heidelberg Project.

As fate would have it, we turned down a neighborhood street and came upon the project created by Tyree Guyton.   When you come upon The Heidelberg Project you see someone telling a story.  The street he grew up on has become one of pallets he paints on to tell a very personal story.  

Tyree Guyton has exhibits in museums and galleries --- and recently had the New York Times describe his work: "Mr. Guyton is a civic treasure as an artist and as the creative force behind the extraordinary “Heidelberg Project,” a grand communal act of urban reclamation that has, for 20 years, been turning blocks of condemned houses in a black neighborhood into giant sculptural assemblages incorporating cast-off materials and found objects."

 

There has been much written and debated about The Heidelberg Project.   I was curious what the story is behind the artist.   Here is what I found:

"I strive to be a part of the solution. I see and understand how order is needed in the world and in our individual lives. My experiences have granted me knowledge of how to create art and how to see beauty in everything that exists."

"My work talks about what I see but it helps others to see what they see. My job is to help people to see. What they take away from my work is their own personal testimony. "

"I like to take that which is dead (cast aside, thrown away) and put life back in it by adding colors and shapes and making it speak back to the world."

The Heidelberg Project over the past 20 year's has gone onto be recognized as one of the most influential art environments in the world.  One person telling his story.   

The point is, everyone has a story to tell.  Tyree Guyton tells his in a dramatic fashion on some streets on the East Side of Detroit.    

Yet for many in our community, his or her story is just invisible.   No one hears it,  sees it or visits it.  

Part of our work at United Way is to put a light on many invisible stories in our community.    And each day, we work to create pathways of understanding and avenues to help.   Mr. Guyton suggests in his art (see above) to "meet me half way."  To me, that isn't a bad way to approach our day --- striving to meet each other half way.

To learn more, go to uwsem.org.

Thanks for reading.  Pass it on.