Mark Howard is a critically acclaimed American painter, sculptor, muralist, and textile artist whose monumental public works are a defining presence across Northeast Ohio. Originally from Newark, New Jersey, Howard earned his BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art, and his career has since been marked by significant national and international exhibitions, including the prestigious Biennale Internazionale dell' Arte Contemporanea in Florence, Italy (2001).

He is an important figure in the regional arts landscape, which was recently cemented with the Cleveland Arts Prize Lifetime Achievement Award for 2025. Howard's dynamic and colorful abstract art is not confined to the gallery; he has a prolific history of transforming public spaces. His major commissions include the vast, approximately 650-foot work "Picket Fences," a laser-cut stainless steel and backlit LED installation spanning both sides of the underground walkway at Cleveland Hopkins Airport. Other notable projects include a mural for the dedication of the expanded Rocky River Middle School, a large-scale public mural and garden bench for the Cleveland School of the Arts, and a ceiling mural for the Louis B. Stokes wing of the Cleveland Public Library. His work is represented in major public collections, including the Cleveland Museum of Art, Metro Hospital, Summa Hospital, and Case Western Reserve University