Paul Goodnight was born In Chicago, Illinois on December 31, 1946. He was raised in Roxbury, Massachusetts and New London, Connecticut. After serving in the Vietnam War, Goodnight returned to Boston and pursued a career as an artist. He received his B.F.A. and an honorary M.F.A. from the Massachusetts College of Art. Paul's learning continued under the tutelage of Paul Rahilly, John Biggers, Chuck Stigliano.

Goodnight's work has also been featured in films such as Ghost, The Preachers Wife, and Gone Baby Gone, among others and on many television programs including Seinfeld and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, which collectively propelled his work into the mainstream market. But equally important, Paul's work has been used to raise in excess of $75,000 for the Andre Agassi Foundation and Charter School. Bishop Desmond Tutu, Lionel Richie, Maya Angelou, Samuel L. Jackson, Wesley Snipes, Morgan Freeman, Ed Gordon, Steve Harvey, Illyassa Shabazz, daughter of the late Malcolm X are a few of his notable collectors. His work has been published in Upscale Magazine, Ebony, Architectural Digest, Essence, People, Miami Design, Decor and 100 Boston Painters. But here at home, the Baystate Banner and The Boston Globe consider him one of our most talented native sons.