- An exhibition at Jackson's Ella Sharp Museum challenges audiences to see value in what others have given up on.
- The Museum's exhibition about Tyree Guyton's Heidelberg Project celebrates the artistic vision that transformed a Detroit neighborhood, hoping it will be an inspiration to Jackson.
- Admission to "40 Years in the Hood: Detroit’s Heidelberg Project" and to the rest of the Museum is free through the end of October.
Change, transformation, progress — all require seeing something differently.
"He saw something special in what was there, and thought it could be something different and better," says Ella Sharp Museum's Executive Director Jeremy Frew.
That's the message one artist is bringing from a Detroit neighborhood he helped transform to Jackson…in hopes of inspiring others.
WATCH THE VIDEO FOR HIGHLIGHTS OF THE EXHIBITION AND ITS BACKGROUND:
Sometimes, the hardest thing to see differently is something you've given up on.
"It's taking something and seeing more of it and making it live," says Frew. "He saw something special and turned it into art where other people may've saw trash."
Tyree Guyton's Heidelberg Project exhibition at Jackson's Ella Sharp Museum is a celebration of the work he began 40 years ago. He decided art could make his blighted Heidelberg Street neighborhood in Detroit something better.
It's now an outdoor art environment that draws tens of thousands of visitors and, according to a Williams College study, generates millions in yearly economic impact.
As the 40th anniversary of the Project drew near, Jackson's Ella Sharp Museum leaders went to Detroit to meet with Guyton.
Frew says of Guyton: "He started challenging us: why Jackson? Why should it be there?
"What was the answer? Why Jackson?" I ask him.
"Well, I think, if I were to summarize, it's because we share a lot of the same values," says Frew. "I think also, just talking, that we both saw it's really important for the public to see this and witness this in a time for us to be challenged and to move forward."
I ask Frew whether he thinks it might be an inspiration here in Jackson?
"I hope so," he says. "I mean, we've had thousands of students — the goal is to have every Jackson County student go through here."
...and, hopefully, be inspired to find and create value in those less than obvious places.
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