Black History Museum
Ashland, Kentucky
The C.B. Nuckolls Community Center & Black History Museum is a nonprofit museum in Ashland, Kentucky, dedicated to the collection, documentation, preservation and study of Black history in Ashland and across America. The museum will continuously cultivate a Black history experience and honor accomplishments of the past while providing an education for generations to come.
The C.B. Nuckolls Community Center & Black History Museum
was saddened to hear of the loss of Mr. Jerry Johnson!
Mr. Johnson was an amazing artist and well known around the country! He was “Black Excellence.”
Mr. Johnson was also a great friend, supporter and patron of the museum! We will truly miss you.
The C.B. Nuckolls Community Center & Black History Museum was saddened to hear of the loss of Mr. Jerry Johnson! Mr. Johnson was an amazing artist and well known around the country! He was “Black Excellence.”
Mr. Johnson was also a great friend, supporter and patron of the museum! We will truly miss you.
WHEREAS, we pause to remember Mr. Jerry Johnson, a lifelong resident of Ashland, KY who passed surrounded by his family on October 18, 2025.
WHEREAS, He left a legacy of love and courage in every stroke of his paint brush.
WHEREAS, Jerry’s talent grew with every new life experience and his ability to capture the story in a picture was second to none.
He owned and operated the Heritage Art Gallery where his beautiful paintings are featured. Jerry was a patron of the Black History Museum and donated his time, paintings, murals showing his many gifts and talents. Jerry was ever present in the community and the tri-state area. He was a faithful member of Christ Temple Church and praised God with his beautiful voice in the men’s choir.
His passing will leave a forever void in the whole community. He was the example of “Black Excellence” for Ashland’s African American community.
I, Darrell Smith and Bernice Henry, Co-Founders of the C.B. Nuckolls Community Center & Black History Museum of Ashland, Boyd County KY, will hereby designate a permanent place of tribute to Mr. Jerry Johnson recognizing his extraordinary works.
THEREFORE, we encourage all people, businesses, organizations, and institutions to join us in Honoring Mr. Jerry Austin Johnson’s lifetime works of Art.
In the Year of Our Lord, this Twenty Seventh Day of October, Two Thousand Twenty-Five.
—Darrell Smith and Bernice Henry