To view Mike Howard’s large-scale canvas paintings of three of Alabama’s most pivotal moments is like being there in the moment.

Carrie Jaxon, curator of Troy University’s International Art Center, said Howard’s Phenix City series, Rosa Parks and Selma artworks give a unique glimpse into events that had an immediate and lasting change on the overall climate of the state.

Howard’s canvas paintings are composed of fast brush strokes and dripping paint and boldly capture key events in Alabama’s history– marchers crossing Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge.,  Rosa Parks seated on a Montgomery city bus and the assassination of Alabama Attorney General Albert Patterson in Phenix City.

Mike Howard will be honored with a reception and artist talk at Troy University’s International Art Center from 5 until 7 p.m. Friday. The public is invited.

Jaxon said Howard will discuss each of the canvas scenes and will provide his personal perspective on each. However, Jackson said his perspective on the assassination of Attorney General Albert Patterson will be extremely insightful. 

Mike Howard grew up in Phenix City during a time when Phenix City was one of the most notorious cities in the United States.

“As a child, he was impressionable and that affected his life is such a way that it is seen and felt in his artwork,” Jaxon said. “His work is powerful. To view his canvas paintings is to be there with the marchers, with Rosa Parks and certainly there when Albert Patterson is murdered.”

Jaxon said viewing  Howard’s work is like stepping into the scene, to being a part of history.

“We are looking forward to hearing Mike Howard talk about each event and how it has affected his life and all of our lives,” she said. “And, those who attend the artist’s reception and art talk will get the see another side of the artist. Not many people know that Mike Howard is also a professional cyclist and  a national champion. We will all be interested to also know more about the other side of the artist.”

The reception from Mike Howard is open the public and everyone is invited.