An Introduction to Heyri Art Valley

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Many years ago an unnamed visionary dreamt of a collaborative community where artists from every background would congregate, build their homes, have their studios and exhibit their work. With the artists building, creating and producing their work, people would flock to the community to discuss, interact and observe the artist within their workspace.
This visionaries dream became a reality in 1994 when a group of architects met to discuss plans, design and develop a town around the idea of a collaborative artistic community integrated within its environment. The architects on the project were Kyong-Kyu Kim, Kyoung-Kook Woo, Jong-Ho Lee, Jong-Kyu Kim, and Hellen Park. Several years passed as the project was put on hold but then on December 22nd, 1999 an agreement with the Korea Land Corporation was signed and construction began in February 2001.

Maximizing the master plan the 123-acre property left all naturally made passageways arranging the buildings in an unmethodical pattern. No roads were constructed no footpaths were created the natural environment remained intact by incorporating the ecological creeks, streamlets, and waterways all of these natural elements would be restored and improved providing everyone with fresh, clean running water. Conservation in every way possible was arranged within this new development concept. Buildings being constructed needed to be three-stories or less thus not interfering with the natural surrounding beauty of wildflowers, mountains, hills and trees.

Adding to the uniqueness of this new development the architects and civil engineers held a contest open to the public to come up with creative designs for five short footbridges, which would appeal to the “sense of Heyri.” Another first in design was the incorporation of an ultramodern information network system built using a sophisticated grid over the entire property. This network system would eliminate telephone poles, lines and above ground eyesores adding to the overall appeal of the area.

In May 2002, Heyri Art Valley officially opened with a festival showing off the forty original artist homes, galleries and workshops. Today, there are nearly ninety-one buildings with art shops, café’s, galleries, guesthouses, museums, restaurants and workshops. People can visit Heyri anytime since its open 24-hours a day, 7 days a week.

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