Help Us Rebuild Hamtramck Disneyland!

DMYTRO SZYLAK was a Ukrainian immigrant who worked for GM for 30 years. After he retired, he began building Hamtramck Disneyland , a dazzling folk art installation full of rocking horses, toy soldiers, and kinetic constructions that for nearly 30 years has enthralled local residents and attracted thousands of visitors from around the world. Mr. Szylak was constantly repairing and updating the site until his death in 2015, at age 92.

 

Hatch Art , a local non-profit arts organization, has maintained the installation since 2016, but while many of the site's art objects have been preserved, the wooden structure that supported them was so badly rotted out from exposure to the elements that, for practical and safety reasons, it needed to be rebuilt.

 

This year, Hatch wants to create a new "infrastructure" for Hamtramck Disneyland, one that's safer and built to last. (See cover illustration for an artist rendering of the proposed new structure.) With your financial help, Hatch will install a multi-level platform designed to mimic the appearance of the original and provide a stage for the reinstallation of the toys, handmade objects, and other fun stuff that Hamtramck Disneyland is famous for, keeping the project alive for years to come.

100% of donations will go toward materials, labor, equipment rental, and related costs associated with rebuilding the art site. This is "Phase 3" of Hatch's work on Hamtramck Disneyland (Phase 1: rehab the houses on the property to make them liveable and rentable; Phase 2: salvage as much material as possible from the existing art site; Phase 3: Build a new, long-term, code-compliant structure to support the artworks; Phase 4: repopulate the site with art objects, lights, etc.)