Mark Johnson Meet...

Mark Johnson is a Lexington and East End native and is the president of Art Inc., which Community Ventures supports. He graduated from the University of Kentucky with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and a minor in Economics. After becoming one of the youngest Vice Presidents at his bank, Johnson left the banking industry to give back to Kentucky through small and micro business development.

As an artist, Johnson was juried into the Kentucky Arts Council’s Kentucky Crafted program, one of the highest honors a Kentucky artist can receive. Johnson’s art has been displayed at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France, and ArtExpo, one of New York City’s largest art shows. He has also been recognized as one of the world’s Top 60 Contemporary Artists of the Year. In Kentucky, Johnson’s work is part of the permanent collection of Eastern Kentucky University’s John Grant Crabbe Main Library, and based on his Fountainfalls Waterdrop photography series, he was named “Photographer of The Year” by Art Design Consultants, a full-service art consulting firm and art gallery based in Ohio. In 2022, he was invited by Eastern Kentucky University, the Richmond Area Arts Council, and the NAACP of Richmond to exhibit his glasswork at an event recognizing several prominent African American artists during Black History Month.