Resilience: A Buffalo Story by Mustafa Hussain (2023)

Closing reception on Friday, August 4 from 5:00 – 8:00 PM.

Over almost three years, Erie County lost over 3,000 people to COVID-19, and then half a year after the tragedy at TOPS that took the lives of 10 Buffalonians, the most brutal winter storm in five decades claimed the lives of more than 40. How does a city rebuild? Hussain investigates that question in his thought-provoking exhibition, reaching a conclusion that the only way to rebuild is through compassion, determination, and reliance on community.

A graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology, Mustafa Hussain is a photojournalist and editorial photographer, currently based in Chicago. He has worked with the New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and Chicago Magazine. He has spent recent years documenting Buffalo’s remarkable and harrowing 2020’s transformation.

According to the artist, “Resilience: A Buffalo Story is a collection of portraits and reportage work over the past two years focused on the beautiful resilience within the Black community of Buffalo, N.Y. Through COVID, amplified systemic racism and violence, loss, and most recently a treacherous winter storm, Buffalo continues to endure.