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By Konner Hines
This piece celebrates the first African-American Trailblazers from Northeast Ohio as part of the Art Walk of Fame. Painted by Jerome White, it was commissioned by the Cleveland Historical Society to spotlight regional Black history.
In classrooms, on sidewalks, and across murals that stretch along Cleveland’s city blocks, you can find the signature of a man whose artistry is just as much about vision as it is about voice.
“I guess I never stopped,” says Jerome White, reflecting on how his passion for art began. “It started with comic books, drawing on the porch…creating superheroes and stories together. I just kept going.” That creative spark, ignited in childhood, has since evolved into something larger —a lifelong calling to connect, uplift, and inspire through art.
White, a Cleveland native and graduate of Cleveland Heights High School, has spent the last three decades cultivating not just a personal body of work, but a legacy rooted in service. After studying at Tuskegee University and Baldwin Wallace University, he briefly pursued a career in medical illustration before earning a master’s in art education from Case Western Reserve University. He returned home in 1997 and has taught in the Cleveland Heights-University Heights School District ever since.
“This is my 32nd year teaching, 29 of those in Ohio,” he says proudly, noting his current post at Monticello Middle School. “There’s just something about Cleveland—it’s not too fast, not too slow. And there’s an opportunity here. There’s family. It’s familiar.”
White’s impact stretches far beyond school walls. Across Cleveland, his work is in public murals, festivals, and galleries, often created alongside students and young artists. His goal: not only to beautify neighborhoods, but to help youth see themselves reflected in their surroundings—and their potential.
“I was just taking on opportunities as they came,” he says of his early mural projects. “It came naturally, working with middle and high school kids. Each mural, each art show, it’s all practice, all part of growth.”
One of his latest and most meaningful projects is the All Our Babies Transformative Art Fund, a city-funded initiative on maternal health in the Black community and the concept of Afrofuturism. “It’s a beautiful challenge,” White explains. “Combining spiritual symbolism, motherhood, and futurism—it gave me a chance to visually communicate something bigger than myself.”
White’s mural for the project consists of four large panels, each expressing interconnected themes of ancestry, birth, resistance, and hope. “If we don’t pass down knowledge, it gets lost,” he says. “There are things we should all know about how to live, how to reconnect with nature, with each other. My hope is to inspire future generations not to forget—but to remember, and to build.”
He recently contributed to The Stories of Us, a national traveling installation featuring symbolic, story-driven artwork on sculptural drums. One of White’s collaborators was a former student who now works alongside him on several projects. “That full-circle moment—having a student now creating with you—it’s powerful,” he says.
When asked what he hopes his work does for the next generation of artists, White pauses:
“You just want to share your voice with the world. And if what I create helps someone reflect, or dream, or heal—then I’ve done what I was meant to do. Every now and then, someone tells me my work moved them. That’s enough fuel to keep going.”
For White, art isn’t just self-expression. It’s spiritual. It’s communal. It’s necessary.
“There’s no break,” he laughs. “But I love the ride. I’m here to keep creating.”
Want to Get Involved?
To support the All Our Babies Transformative Art Project, visit their website or follow upcoming events in the Cleveland area. Volunteer opportunities, donations, and community support are always welcome.
To view more of White’s work, visit www.jeromesartroom.com
Authors Bio
Konner Hines is a Marketing and International Business student at Baldwin Wallace University, a member of the Honors College. Passionate about storytelling and global issues, Hines explores pop culture, media, and social justice through thought-provoking writing.
