Polka dots and salvaged objects cover an entire block here, and you're in the middle of the Heidelberg Project. In 1986 the artist Tyree Guyton, dismayed by the decay of his childhood east-side neighborhood after the riots and the factory closings, began transforming abandoned houses and vacant lots into a sprawling installation. He covered buildings in bright polka dots, nailed up clocks, shoes, stuffed animals, and salvaged objects, and turned ruin into a defiant, joyful statement about a forgotten part of the city.
The Heidelberg Project became internationally famous, drawing visitors from around the world, though the city twice bulldozed parts of it, and arsonists destroyed several houses in later years. Guyton has called it a medicine for the community and a comment on what America throws away. As you walk the street, look at the painted dots, the painted faces, the everyday objects fixed to walls and trees, and consider that one artist decided an abandoned block was worth covering in color rather than leaving to rot.