Heidelberg Project Artist Needs Shoes for "Street Folk" Art Installation

DETROIT (WJBK) - Old shoes, new shoes, unusual shoes, colorful shoes or shoes that mean something -- the founder of The Heidelberg Project wants you to put your best foot forward toward a new art project.

Every worn pair of shoes has something to say. Take, for example, footwear worn by a student that came straight from the heart of change in Egypt.

"They put notes in the shoes to tell a story about life, their life," said Tyree Guyton.

What several donated shoes have in common is Guyton, an artist who plans to fill a Detroit street with thousands of shoes for his upcoming art installation -- "Street Folk".

"I saw the need to kind of talk about the homeless problem here in this city and also in this country," Guyton said. "So, there's going to be a street that's going to be covered with thousands of shoes … The shoes are coming from all over the world."

Metaphorically, shoes represent the journey, and in cases where the journey is hard, there may not be any shoes at all.

"I just saw a lady walking down the street with no shoes … a couple days ago … out in this weather," said Guyton.

That's why some of the shoes collected will be set aside for donation.

You can plan on seeing "Street Folk" come April seventh.

If your shoes ache, maybe it's time you change them. Shoes and an optional brief story can be dropped off at The Heidelberg Project office at 42 Watson Street in Detroit. Before doing so, please first call (313) 974-6894 or e-mail michelle@heidelberg.org.

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For more information about The Heidelberg Project, visit www.heidelberg.org.