Gilbert Family Foundation puts $125,000 into the Heidelberg Project's next 40 years

Tyree Guyton came home from military service and started turning abandoned houses on Detroit's east side into art. Forty years later, the Gilbert Family Foundation is backing what comes next.

The foundation is investing $125,000 in the Heidelberg Project, the outdoor art environment Guyton started with his grandfather Sam Mackey on Heidelberg Street in the McDougall-Hunt community. The money goes toward renovating the iconic Number House.

Beyond the building, the grant supports an artist-in-residence program and programming for the surrounding neighborhood.

Guyton didn't build it alone. He started the project with his grandfather, Sam Mackey, transforming the blocks around Heidelberg Street through public art.

"The Heidelberg Project is a unique gathering space for people from all walks of life to experience art in a way that's open, accessible and distinctly rooted in place," said Akua Hill, director of arts and culture at the Gilbert Family Foundation.

The timing is deliberate. The Heidelberg Project turns 40 in 2026, and the foundation tied the Number House work to the decades ahead. "This is a perfect time to support the evolution of Number House as Heidelberg embarks on its next 40 years," Hill said.

The grant also lands during a leadership change at the organization, with Colleen McLellan stepping in as executive director, succeeding Andy Sturm.

Hill connected the gift to the neighborhood's larger story. "The Heidelberg Project reflects the power of art to transform how we connect with place and one another," she said. "Supporting the Number House honors that legacy while investing in its future as a space for gathering, learning, and celebration."

For a project with a story like this one, the backing is a vote of confidence in what comes next. "Heidelberg Project represents resilience, transformation, and both the beauty and tension of change," Hill said. "It reflects the courage it takes to keep going…and it lives in the spirit of Detroit."

The installation sits on Heidelberg Street in McDougall-Hunt, where it has spent 40 years growing one house at a time.