By Haadia Hyder, NLIHC Strategic Partnerships & Campaigns Intern
HueMan:Shelter is an art initiative in Houston, Texas, that brings together artists and individuals with lived experience of homelessness to create powerful bodies of work that not only inspire conversation but also understanding and connection. It’s a community engagement initiative and economic development program that serves as a catalyst for changing perceptions around homelessness and a physical testament to the social impact of publicly accessible art. The project encompasses installations and mural work across three bus shelters, two underpasses, and one large-scale mural, shaping conversations around homelessness in a Houston neighborhood.
The project was awarded $1 million through the Bloomberg Philanthropies' Third Public Art Challenge. With applications from over 154 cities across 40 states, Houston and HueMan:Shelter were selected as one of eight grantees for the programs' third wave. It’s a testament to the innovative community effort that uses creativity as a tool for engagement and social change.
Artists and unhoused individuals worked together to design and implement these public art projects across the main corridor of Midtown, integrating lived experiences of homelessness into mural designs. The project served as a paid opportunity for unhoused Houstonians to gain hands-on workforce skills, creating steps to economic stability through Career and Recovery Resources’ UpRise Enterprise program. HueMan:Shelter has also hosted various community programming events, including community paint days, guided walking tours, community celebrations, and free sound meditation sessions and yoga classes.
This initiative highlights the multifaceted capacity public art holds, shaping conversations around homelessness, fostering multi-sector collaborations, and furthering local economic development through a people-first lens.
NLIHC is committed to building and strengthening cultural, political, and coalition partnerships necessary to achieve housing justice through meaningful relationships and highlighting events that showcase housing in different spaces and media.
Let’s reshape the narrative together! We are seeking partners who want to shift narratives, expand public will, and strengthen the movement for housing justice. Share your interest here.
Let us know if there are upcoming and past arts and culture events that you believe our team should know about or attend, including film screenings, local gallery shows, community storytelling events, or national conferences. Please send details to May Louis Juste, NLIHC Project Manager, Strategic Partnerships, at [email protected].