DiverseWorks Announces 2020 Project Freeway Fellows Brian Ellison and Jeffrey Bussey
Intown Staff
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2020 PROJECT FREEWAY FELLOWS
Diverse Works announced Brian Ellison (The Black Man Project) and Jeffrey Bussey as DiverseWorks’ Project Freeway Fellows for Fall 2020. These two artists will be developing new community-focused projects that address Houston residents in the spaces and places that they live and work. Ellison plans to create a large-scale event in the historic Third Ward as part of The Black Man Project, while Bussey will research and host conversations about the construction of State Highway 288 and the Houston freeway system. Both projects will provide insights into the city’s history of urban sprawl through highway construction and the people and neighborhoods they impact.
Brian Ellison is a philanthropist and a self-taught photographer, cinematographer, and conceptual visual artist. He is the director and producer of the film UnMASKulinity and the founder of The Black Man Project.
The Black Man Project is a revolutionary non-profit organization that is rooted in creating safe spaces for healthy conversations exploring the many nuances that affect men of color. Brian Ellison, the filmmaker, serves along with his brothers, Marlon Hall, an anthropologist, and Anthony Suber, a sculptor, to form a guild of griots to travel the nation archiving stories of Black masculinity. The Black Man Project hopes to continue its work in activating groups around the country and in the Third Ward area by facilitating a series of these healthy conversations intended to curate spaces for vulnerability and healing for men.
As an artist, Brian believes there is no limit to self-expression and that art is a universal language that can be the catalyst for healing. Using his lens, Brian is a storyteller who highlights the beauty that hides in plain sight. As both a videographer and a photographer, Ellison documents everyday Black experiences, such as gentrification’s impact on historical communities, under-publicized Black love and comradery, parenthood, and the persistent courage of Black women and men.
Jeffrey Bussey is a born-again Houstonian, poet, teacher, and historical tour guide. As a community artist, he has founded and organized the Gentle Hour, Houston’s Monthly Morning Reading Series, and is the creator and operator of @GoodandBadBikeRacksofHouston on Instagram.
For Project Freeway, Jeffrey asks, “How have Houston’s freeways constructed our identities and the areas we call home?” The project not only challenges how we define place but connects Houston’s history with its ever-growing highway system and makes us all take a closer look at the divisions we navigate daily. Bussey loves talking and learning about Houston’s past, present, and future. You can find him searching for the city’s best banh mi and baklava — or looking a little too hard at the freeways as he rolls around on his bicycle or beep beeps in his Toyota Matrix. If you ever see him around town, feel free to say hi!
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