ALTERNATIVE VTO: THE HEIDELBERG
The amazing Rossetti office holds a weekly VTO meeting (VTO: Vision/Traction Organizer). The purpose of VTO is to review our projects and initiatives to discuss how they align with our core values, as well as to establish new goals and objectives.
However, because of our new downtown location, we decided to immerse ourselves in the creative culture happening OUTSIDE the office. Therefore, every other week, the Rossetti team will be venturing out into our beautiful city of Detroit to explore and investigate our habitat's happenings. The goal is to not only familiarize ourselves with our new locale, but to also engender inspiration and get those creative juices flowing!
Our first ALT VTO was a visit to the Heidelberg studio. For those of you who don't know about the Project, here's a short description:
...an open-air art environment in the heart of an urban community on Detroit’s East Side. Tyree Guyton, founder and artistic director, uses everyday, discarded objects to create a two block area full of color, symbolism, and intrigue. Now in its 27th year, the Heidelberg Project is recognized around the world as a demonstration of the power of creativity to transform lives.
The first part of our visit was inside the Fine Arts Theater on Woodward, a space next door to their studio (which we afterwards visited) being used for their yearly fall fundraiser "ENCORE". Our host, Trista Dymond, who is the Heidelberg's in-house graphics and site development coordinator, was kind enough to not only let us get a sneak peak of her beautiful installation, but also provided a deeper understanding of why this year's fundraiser was particularly crucial.
On the day of our visit, the Heidelberg Project had been devastated by six intentional fires since October. The losses included the OJ House, the House of Soul, and the Penny House. The installation created by Trista utilized, in typical Heidelberg-ian fashion, an atypical material: discarded plastic bags. Painted blue and woven together, the result was an undulating and enveloping "wave", meant to not only engage the entire theater's space, but to symbolize the power and message of the Project itself. After all, what better to fight fire with than water?
Although the fundraiser was extremely successful and morale was high, the weekend after our visit a seventh house was burned. While the destruction of such a critical piece of Detroit's culture as well as a historic landmark is truly a travesty, we at Rossetti believe in the resilience of the Heidelberg Project. It's team, Tyree, and the Project itself are all an embodiment of the spirit of Detroit, which burns fiercer and brighter than any fire could.
To donate follow the link: http://igg.me/at/HPLegacy/x
