Houston – Beneath the busy underpass at Milam and I-45 in Midtown, what was once just concrete now bursts with color.
It’s one of six art installations that are part of a public art project called Hueman: Shelter, which was unveiled on Thursday.
The City of Houston and Midtown Houston project is a collaboration between local artists and people experiencing homelessness, designed to shift perceptions and provide a path forward.
One of the homeless people who was involved in the project is Tammy Kohr, also known as the “mayor of the underpass.”
“I’ve been sitting out here on the sidewalk doing my paint, and I started the prayer wall,” said Kohr.
Kohr said to put up a piece of paper labeled Tammy’s Treasures for prayer requests. The first prayer she posted was for a woman whose father was dying in the hospital.
“Two weeks later, she came back and said her father was cured and home. No signs of cancer,” said Kohr.
This caught the attention of artist Marlon Hall.
“I learned that we’re all looking for home, right? So to solve the problem of homelessness means to create advocacy for it,” Hall said. “Art became more than just hues of color; it’s an activation of humanity.”
The City of Houston and Midtown Houston received a $1 million Bloomberg Philanthropies grant to fund HueMan:Shelter.
Seven Houston artists and 40 unhoused participants took part, working through Career and Recovery Resources, Inc.
Homeless individuals were paid $15 an hour for 20 to 30 hours a week to help create the works, which include three METRO bus shelter displays, two underpass installations, and a large-scale mural on San Jacinto Street.
For artist Chris Robinson, the project was about amplifying voices often left unheard.
“I’m just a vessel. I’m a vessel for their message,” Robinson said. “I want to be the megaphone for people that don’t get to have a voice.”
Robinson said two of the people in his cohort have now started a vegan-based sauce company.
For Kohr, who has been homeless in Houston twice, the project is deeply personal.
“I’m amazed. I don’t even know the right words, but I’m really relieved most of all that someone finally sees these people out here. They feel like they’re forgotten. They feel like they’re invisible,” said Kohr.
As part of HueMan: Shelter, participants will also help maintain the installations, keeping their work alive for the community to see.
The bus shelter installations will remain in place until December 2026. The two underpass displays will remain pending the FIFA World Cup, and the large mural will be in place indefinitely.