Southeastern High School, which recently celebrated its 100-year anniversary, is ready to celebrate the unveiling of a new 30-foot mural at the storied school. On Thursday, March 29 (10:00 a.m.) at DPSCD’s Southeastern High, located at 3030 Fairview St. on city’s east side, school officials and the student body will join the Heidelberg Arts Leadership Academy (HALA) in unveiling the much anticipated mural.
Led by the team of Anya Dennis, Keisa Davis and Charmin Archer of the Heidelberg Arts Leadership Academy, the trio worked with other Southeastern students to develop a school mural that highlights social justice solutions to the challenges and issues that students face in their neighborhood. Collaborating with noted Detroit muralist and artist Tony Whign, the mural, “Road to Success” represents the barriers and roadblocks Detroit teens experience along the road to graduation and young adulthood.
“A public school system lacking in giving attention to the arts is disruptive to the social growth of the community,” said Whign. “Therefore, I am honored to have had the opportunity to work with HALA and the students of Southeastern High School. We need more schools to participate in programs that allow the students to work out their creative muscles. The entire process was an amazing experience and I’d love to work with the students and HALA again. Much appreciation and thanks for bringing me on board.”
The HALA program officially launched its pilot phase in January, 2018 in partnership with Southeastern High School, Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School, Marcus Garvey Academy and Cesar Chavez Academy East. Through these partnerships, HALA will reach more than 150 students through two consecutive 9-week in-school and after-school sessions. HALA course offerings between January and June 2018 will include: Art Through Hip Hop, Writes of Passage, and Art Speaks: Mural Project.
Founded in 1986 by artist Tyree Guyton, The Heidelberg Project is a Detroit-based community organization that uses art as a catalyst to breathe new life into the community, creatively finding ways of transforming what others see as trash into public, outdoor art installations. In August 2016, Guyton announced Heidelberg 3.0, a new vision to transform his childhood neighborhood from an arts installation driven by one man into a self-sustaining arts and culture village.
“Southeastern High School is proud to be the first school that HALA has partnered with in the great city of Detroit,” said Damian Perry, Southeastern’s principal, who looks forward to expanding the school’s partnership with HALA and the Heidelberg Project. “Our students, staff and building are forever changed because of this experience. We firmly believe that this experience will ensure each of our students have the ability to…Start here and Go Anywhere!”