Huntsville, Alabama, is a city known for innovation, progress, and discovery, but beyond rockets and research lies a thriving creative community shaped by Black artists whose work reflects history, resilience, and imagination. During Black History Month, Huntsville proudly celebrates the artists who not only create beauty but also preserve stories, spark conversations, and leave a lasting imprint on the city’s cultural landscape.
From vibrant murals to nationally recognized festival artwork and culture-shaping creative brands, Black artists continue to shape how Huntsville looks, feels, and remembers itself. Three artists and creative forces in particular, each representing a different chapter of Huntsville’s creative story, offer visitors a meaningful way to experience the city through art.
Everett Carter
A Life Painted in Color and Legacy
Born and raised in Huntsville, Everett Carter is a Vietnam veteran, lifelong artist, and a living piece of the city’s artistic history. His creative journey spans decades, from painting large-scale billboards high above the ground to producing murals and fine art that now live throughout Huntsville.
For over 20 years, Carter worked in the advertising industry, painting billboards while suspended on scaffolding, long before digital technology transformed the field. Though electronics eventually replaced that craft, his artistry never faded. Instead, it evolved.
Today, Carter is the owner of Vivid Studio at Lowe Mill ARTS & Entertainment, a name inspired by his love for bold, expressive color. Visitors can explore his work up close in the studio, where vivid hues and powerful imagery tell stories shaped by travel, service, and deep Southern roots. His art can also be found throughout the community, including in the corridors of Woody Anderson Ford.
Despite traveling the world, Carter’s heart has always remained in Huntsville. His work stands as a tribute to perseverance, reinvention, and the beauty of staying connected to home.
Denise Onwere
Capturing Culture Through Contemporary Expression
Denise Onwere represents the modern face of Huntsville’s creative scene; bold, thoughtful, and deeply connected to the community. In 2023, she was selected as the featured poster artist for the Panoply Arts Festival, one of Huntsville’s most celebrated cultural events.
Her artwork stood at the center of the festival’s visual identity, welcoming thousands of visitors with a design that reflected creativity, diversity, and the spirit of the city. Being chosen as Panoply’s featured poster artist is both a professional milestone and a powerful acknowledgment of the impact Black artists continue to have on Huntsville’s cultural narrative.
Onwere’s work blends storytelling with contemporary design, creating pieces that feel both personal and universal. Through her art, she invites viewers (locals and visitors alike) to see Huntsville through a lens of color, emotion, and lived experience.
Jahmah & Denise Myhand
Building Culture Through So Amazing! Black Culture
Jahmah and Denise Myhand represent a different but equally powerful side of Huntsville’s creative ecosystem: the artists as cultural architects.
They are the founders of So Amazing! Black Culture, a brand dedicated to celebrating the coolness, creativity, heart, soul, and achievements of Black culture through joyful, meaningful, and beautifully crafted products.
What began as a vision to create fun, culturally reflective word search books and journals has grown into a full creative ecosystem. Through So Amazing! Black Culture, the Myhands produce vibrant, intentional books that spark nostalgia, promote literacy, and encourage self-care—all while honoring the richness of everyday Black life.
Through their visual art brand, Reflections by JLD, they extend this mission even further with striking canvas and photo prints that capture the beauty, brilliance, and everyday magic of Black culture. From modern and Afrocentric portraits to soulful scenes of family, music, history, and joy, each piece is designed not just to decorate a space but to transform it and make people feel seen, valued, and celebrated.
But their work goes beyond products. At its core, it is about impact: preserving culture, affirming identity, and creating art that lives in people’s homes, classrooms, and daily routines.
For visitors, discovering So Amazing! Black Culture offers a uniquely Huntsville experience, one that blends creativity, entrepreneurship, and cultural storytelling into something both meaningful and memorable.
More Than Art
A City Shaped by Black Creativity
Huntsville’s Black artists are more than creators; they are historians, visionaries, and cultural ambassadors. Their work lives in studios, festivals, businesses, classrooms, and public spaces, making art an essential part of the visitor experience.
Exploring Huntsville through its artists offers a deeper understanding of the city itself. From Lowe Mill’s creative corridors to citywide festivals like Panoply (and from galleries to culture-shaping brands), Black creativity is woven into Huntsville’s identity: past, present, and future.
This Black History Month, visitors are invited to not only admire the art, but to engage with the stories behind it, support local creators, and experience Huntsville as a city where culture doesn’t just exist...it thrives!
