Aaron Heideman, aka “The Man in a Van.” Photos by Michael Menchero

Only in America
A Traveling Artist Draws a Map of the Recession, One Story at a Time

By Lee Molloy

After taking a refreshing swim in the ocean off 11th Street and getting a much needed wash  — he hadn’t showered in a week — artist Aaron Heideman, aka “The Man in a Van,” decided to take some time out and chat with a local homeless man named Timothy.

As Heideman and Timothy sat on a bench opposite the former Versace mansion on Ocean Drive, they were approached by a Miami Beach police officer who asked them to move on. Heideman says he asked the officer if there was an ordinance against sitting on a bench.

“I’m kind of a smart ass,” Heideman admitted to The Lead.

According to Heideman, the officer asked him to produce identification. However, because he had left his license in his van, he offered to show a business card that was in his pocket.

Heideman says he began to slowly reach into his pocket when the officer drew his gun from his holster and ordered him to stop.

“I decided to play it cool,” Heideman said. “I could have pushed his buttons, but that wouldn’t have solved anything. Plus, I didn’t want to get shot.”

Eventually, Heideman was let off with a warning, although South Beach left a bad taste in his mouth.

“I’ve always been under the impression that I have the right to be a smart ass as long as I’m in America,” he said. But, in Miami Beach “I felt like I was in a different country.”

And Heideman knows this country — he is currently driving across the United States on an artistic odyssey collecting the nation’s recession stories. He calls it “The Man in a Van Project.”

Why a Van, Man?

Heideman grew up in Eugene, Oregon and moved to Seattle to go to art school. He eventually dropped out of school, but hung around Seattle for several years working in  picture framing shops. When the company he worked for went out of business, he moved back to Oregon and worked in a paint store. However, the recession hit the area hard. When that company also went under, Heideman found himself unemployed and sinking into depression.

“I needed to break out of my rut,” Heideman told The Lead. “I was going through depression when I lost my job, and the only thing I wanted to do was escape.”

Heideman heard about ArtPrize, an art competition in Grand Rapids, Michigan that offers a cash prize of $250,000 to the winning artist, selected by a public vote.

“I decided that I wanted to do something that would be less about me and more about other people,” he said. “I really started to get sick of worrying about myself.”

So, he bought an ancient Dodge van, swapped a six-pack for a mattress, and after some extensive research, mapped out a route from Oregon to Michigan that would take him through the parts of the nation most affected by the failing economy, collecting the recession stories of those people who had been hardest hit along the way.

Unraveling story after story on the street in each town, the not-surprisingly scruffy Heideman collects most of the tales on a 50-yard roll of Tyvek paper (the kind of tear-resistant material the Post Office uses for express mail envelopes). He also selects certain stories to feature on the vehicle itself, handing over Sharpies to some of the people he meets.

“I figured other people could benefit from getting their thoughts and feelings out on paper,” he said. “So far, I’ve seen it working, and that’s what keeps me going.”

The financial cost of the project, however, is taking its toll.
“It’s a huge risk for me because I don’t actually have the money to do this,” he said.

His bank account is overdrawn by hundreds of dollars, and he has a Paypal account containing less than $200, earned from the sale of T-shirts custom printed to promote the project. To show support for American workers, the T-shirts are made from California-produced American Apparel shirts.

Because he doesn’t feel it appropriate to ask for money from people offering their recession stories, Heideman has had to rely on random charitable acts from people interested in the project — some will fill his tank up with gas, others may buy him a sandwich, or simply allow him to use their shower.

“Right now I have $20 in my pocket and a full tank of gas,” he says. “This is really tough.”

Encounters

Heideman set out on his quest on July 1 from his home state of Oregon, driving to California and Nevada, then back up to Colorado and down to Texas. He then went to New Orleans and across the south before driving down through Florida — with an unemployment rate of more than 10 percent, and one of the highest rates of home foreclosures in the nation, the Sunshine State easily made his list.

Everywhere he has visited, though, has revealed a further dimension of the economic woes of the American people.

The Man in a Van had one of his most poignant encounters with a couple in Orlando when, unbeknownst to the other, wrote their stories on the roll of Tyvek paper.

“The man wrote something semi-intellectual, I think he was just trying to show off to his girlfriend,” Heideman told The Lead. “When they were finished, the guy showed the girl what he wrote.”

Never asking to see it, the guy, however, had no idea what his girlfriend had written as they walked away from the van.

“I looked at what she wrote and it read ‘I want to kill myself (True story),’” Heideman said. “There’s so much more to the story that I don’t know, and yet, the interaction said so much.”

In Colorado, Heideman met a former Navy Seal and Vietnam veteran who owns his own fuel company, but says that he has given up on the United States. Apparently fed up with the values of America, the former war hero bought his own yacht, and plans to sail it to the Philippines to claim his own island and build his own eco-community.

“I thought it was really fascinating, especially since it’s such a drastic form of escape,” Heideman said. “I’m sure it will be an adventure for him.”

Along with meeting interesting characters, Heideman has experienced some wonderful acts of human kindness. In Brunswick, Georgia he encountered an old man who was himself going into debt at the rate of $1,000 per month by operating a food bank at the Victory Assembly of God church.

“I went there because I needed food — I was completely broke, and I only had a half tank of gas,” he said. “He filled up my gas tank and gave me a bunch of food. … He really helped me out.”

Heideman was so moved by the mans generosity that, if he wins any of the ArtPrize money, he plans to return the favor and donate part of the money to the food bank. There have been “a lot of interesting people that I would be happy to help out if I win,” Heideman says.

Beyond Florida

At press time, The Man in a Van was in North Carolina, heading north to Washington, D.C. There he will finally get a new camera (he dropped his old one in Texas) thanks to the Grand Rapids Community Foundation, which is shipping one so that he can continue to document his journey.

“I’m so thankful that they would do that for me,” he said. “I’ve lost so many opportunities to take great photos along the way.”

From D.C. he will drive around the northeast, visiting Rhode Island, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania before heading to Illinois, and finally to Michigan to exhibit the van and the recession stories at ArtPrize. He plans to arrive by Sept. 15.

After Grand Rapids, things are not so certain.

“I’m not sure what will happen to the van. A lot of people have told me I should sell it to the Smithsonian, but I don’t have any contacts with them,” he said. “Maybe I’ll trade it in with the Cash for Clunkers program.”

No matter what becomes of the van, the man will never be the same again.

“The best thing that’s happened to me with this project is that I’ve become a better person.  I know it’s a cliché, but it’s true,” Heideman said. “I’ve overcome depression by doing something with my life. I’ve also learned a lot about people, and I’ve learned a lot about empathy.”

Follow Heideman’s journey at themaninavanproject.com, and ArtPrize at artprize.org.

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