“My grandmother had the original paper, so I still have that story,” Billingsley said. “Art was always what I did naturally and was a part of as far as my art classes, but I never saw myself pursuing a career in art. Never. When it came to being naturally talented, I was always one of the best one’s in the class. I was doing realism pretty well when I was in high school, but when I graduated, I started working at Ford Motor Company.”
Then, Billingsley said he realized his God-given purpose, and he didn’t want to bury the talents he was given.
Billingsley’s journey includes watching his own son, Brent Billingsley II, create his own artistic masterpieces. Often, the duo works together on paintings, murals and other original endeavors, including the “Changing the Worlds Through Art-One Kid at a Time” StreetSpark utility box mural in Hamilton at Main and B Streets.
“We spend time together, doing this and that, and with him being an artist, it’s definitely been a meaningful part of my journey,” Billingsley said. “It’s been magnificent to watch him grow, and see some of the things he’s done, artistically.”
Billingsley graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in Printmaking from Miami University in 2013. In 2015, he earned a master’s in social work from the University of Cincinnati.
In 2021, he started ARTE, and the nonprofit has created over 100 murals in the past five years. He’s done murals for the Red’s, PNC Bank, at high schools and other community organizations. Billingsley also served as an artist in residence at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center for two years.
“My goal for getting a master’s degree was to combine art and social services. It was to combine art and community. It was to combine art and mental wellness, and that’s exactly what I’m doing right now,” he said.
He is a part-time behavioral health specialist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center/Psychiatry.
Billingsley is also the founder and CEO of ARTE, which specializes in “therapeutic artistic engagement” and empowering youth.
“When it came to helping youth come, express their emotions and heal, I saw right away how powerful art was,” Billingsley said. “It’s not just entertainment or decoration, this stuff is medicine. So, I decided to take the gifts and talents God has given me outside of the hospital walls and start my own company and do this out in the community as well.”
Billingsley believes in giving young people an opportunity to be a part of something bigger than themselves, which gives them a sense of purpose and meaning.
“I don’t care if you go to a mural, you’re there, and make a couple marks on the wall, you are part of what happened there, and people need that. People need to belong to something to make them feel relevant,” said Billingsley. “I think what we do, collectively as an organization, is we welcome you, and we love on you.”
Billingsley, also known as Mysta Bee, will serve as the lead artist on “17 Neighborhoods, 1 Community Mural and Community Engagement Project.” The mural will be installed at the Boys & Girls Club of Hamilton on Grand Boulevard.
The project is a citywide, community driven public art initiative that will bring together residents from all of Hamilton’s 17 neighborhoods to create a mural that will depict Hamilton’s landmarks.
Over the next four months, Billingsley will travel to Hamilton’s 17 neighborhoods to create the community art project.
“This year, I’m working on my biggest project yet here in Hamilton,” Billingsley said. “My team and I have designed a mural that’s going to involve all of Hamilton’s 17 neighborhoods.”
Additionally, Billingsley designed an arts-themed wrap for the exterior of a Cincinnati Bell Connector streetcar.
Billingsley’s design, called “We Are All Hue-Man,” celebrates diversity within the arts and in society as depicted by faces of children incorporated onto the exterior of the streetcar.
“Art makes you free. Art is universal. I have mural on the streetcar in Cincinnati called ‘We Are Hue-Man’ and it crosses boundaries that language can’t even do, and I believe when you create a safe space, and you are occupying certain areas of the brain, creatively and artistically, there’s no room for negative thoughts,” Billingsley said.
About the Author
