Artist Wayne Goodman has been a plumber as well as bookseller. He discovered he had a knack for art and storytelling in 2012 when he began drawing with a child of a friend. They drew together on the same sheet of paper and the experience inspired him to begin taking drawing and painting more seriously. Goodman began depicting the Afrikan American/ Cajun experience in his art.
Goodman is inspired by the Harlem Renaissance poet, Langston Hughes. Often he handwrites text into his works. Goodman uses humor to talk about even the most serious of topics.
In art theory it’s often assumed that the viewer is male, but Goodman’s viewer could be presumed to be a child. In the years before 2020, Goodman would spend time working with children at the Southeast Texas Family Resource Center, which would have about 100 kids come through and they would talk about his paintings, American history and he would encourage them to share their stories.
Goodman has had exhibitions at the Beaumont Art League and in the Art Museum of Southeast Texas in 2017 and 2018. Being involved in Beaumont’s art community, Goodman says, “It’s powerful. It’s opened up my little world, for sure.”
