Entry No. 19 — the Detroit file — filed under: folk art
Hamtramck Disneyland
A towering, whimsical two-story folk art collage built on top of two adjacent garages by Ukrainian immigrant Dmytro Szylak [1.3.4]. It features spinning whirligigs, year-round Christmas lights, hand-crafted wooden soldiers, and pop culture icons like Elvis.
The story
In 1992, after 32 years on the line at a General Motors assembly plant, Ukrainian immigrant Dmytro Szylak retired and did what any sensible man in Hamtramck with a welder and spare time would do: he started bolting things to his garage roof. Over the next two decades, Szylak accumulated plastic horses, wooden soldiers, pinwheels, picture frames, and cutouts of Elvis, mounting them onto a towering metal skeleton that eventually spanned two garage roofs and stood nearly 30 feet high.
He called the finished installation Hamtramck Disneyland, though you won't find Mickey Mouse anywhere in the rig. Instead, it is a dense, kinetic, mechanical fever dream bridging two backyards in an unassuming residential neighborhood. Szylak kept adding spinning whirligigs and year-round Christmas lights until his death in 2015, creating an iconic piece of American outsider art out of sheer repetition and backyard scrap.
When Szylak passed, local non-profit Hatch Art stepped in to purchase the property and preserve the installation. Today, the structure remains anchored above the alley, a soaring monument to one line-worker's absolute refusal to leave his roof empty.
What it's like
To see it, don't look for a front gate or a ticket booth. Drive or walk to the alleyway between Klinger and Sobieski Streets behind 12087 Klinger St. Park on the street, duck into the narrow gravel alley, and look up. The installation sits on private garage roofs, so climbing on it or wandering into the yard is strictly off-limits, but the public alley offers a direct, unobstructed view straight up into the chaos of whirligigs and lights. It's free, open 24/7, and takes about fifteen minutes to take in before you move on to grab paczki down the street.
The move: Walk down the alleyway between Sobieski and Klinger Streets to marvel at this towering backyard collage, then head nearby to grab some traditional Polish paczki.
- 📍 Hamtramck
- 💸 Free
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Outdoors
Where: 12087 Klinger St, Hamtramck, MI 48212
Hours: Added 2026-07-21 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- The Black Salt — Walk under a mile from the garage art alley to this local witchcraft cocktail bar for a botanical drink in a former goth lounge.
- Beth Olem Cemetery — Pair one Hamtramck spatial anomaly with another by visiting this 1860s Jewish cemetery locked inside the perimeter of a massive GM assembly plant.
- The Heidelberg Project — Compare Szylak's concentrated garage-roof installation with Tyree Guyton's sprawling multi-block neighborhood art environment built from Detroit urban debris.
- The Schvitz — Head two miles west after your alley stroll to sweat off the city dust in Detroit's historic 1930 subterranean steam bathhouse.
Good to know
Where is the best spot to view Hamtramck Disneyland?
Stand directly in the public alleyway running between Klinger St and Sobieski St. The entire installation spans the garage roofs right above the alley path.
How much does it cost and what are the hours?
It is completely free and visible from the public alleyway anytime. Because it is located in a dense residential neighborhood, visit during daylight or early evening hours and keep noise to a minimum.
Can you go inside the garages or walk into the yard?
No. The property and yard are private, and the artwork overhead is fragile. View the entire installation safely from the alleyway below.
Who owns and maintains the installation now?
After founder Dmytro Szylak died in 2015, the local arts organization Hatch Art acquired the property to maintain and preserve the folk art structure.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Wikipedia · Atlas Obscura · hatchart.org
last checked: 2026-07-21