Artists Darius Dennis and Jared Diaz returned October 12th to 18th to restore the 50-foot tall portrait, celebrating education, public art, historical preservation, and support for future teachers.
The restoration of Henrietta Helm’s monumental portrait features a woman who expanded educational opportunity in segregated Louisville and epitomizes devotion to cultural and intellectual health in our community.
As part of the UofL Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute’s A New Vision of Health Campus, Helm’s portrait is a tribute to a revered Louisville figure and to her spirit of devotion to enhancing community with education.
Born into slavery in Spencer County, Kentucky during the Civil War, Helm began teaching in 1882 and devoted more than four decades to education. After emancipation, her family moved to Louisville and settled on Short Street in Portland, where she lived for most of her life. She was among the first Black students to attend public school in Louisville before becoming an educator herself.
Henrietta Helm’s teaching career began in the years following Reconstruction and continued through the Jim Crow era, when segregation and discrimination restricted educational opportunities for African Americans. As principal of the Portland Colored Evening School on Lytle Street, Helm helped working Black residents pursue an education when their responsibilities kept them from attending school during the day. She retired from school teaching in 1926 but continued giving piano lessons at home. She died in 1942.
Artists Darius Dennis and Jared Diaz have completed repainting Helm’s portrait at 429 West Muhammad Ali Boulevard from October 12th to 18th, 2026. Led by Dennis’s veteran-owned business, Big Wall Sign & Mural, the project will renew and slightly enlarge the mural following restoration work on the building. Dennis and Diaz painted the original portrait in 2021. In 2020, Dennis, Diaz, and fellow muralist Charlie Nunn collaborated on I Am Singing, a mural based on civil rights photographer Danny Lyon’s image from the 1963 March on Washington, painted on the Nia Center at 2900 West Broadway in Louisville.
Commissioned by Christina Lee Brown and developed in partnership with Portland Museum, the mural grew out of a larger collective social justice mural initiative. Its source photograph came from Portland Museum’s collection of Portland’s history and artifacts, shared years earlier by Helm’s great-grandnephew, Philip Cherry Sr. Inspired by her life and work, Dennis, Diaz, and Portland Museum Executive Director Katy Delahanty came together with Mrs. Christina Lee Brown to share her story through public art. Cherry’s preservation and sharing of his family’s history helped make that work possible.
“The first painting was about honoring women in education and making Henrietta Helm’s remarkable story visible. Five years later, we are here to preserve that presence and investing in the future educators who will carry her work forward. We believe public art is extremely powerful and that it can create large positive impacts in the people’s lives when it is careful and considerate,” said Dennis, founder of Big Wall Sign & Mural.
Portland Museum and Christina Lee Brown raised funds in collaboration with the Community Foundation of Louisville to establish an endowment in Helm’s honor. Portland Museum continues to steward the Henrietta Helm Fund for the Louisville Teacher Residency Program, administered by the Community Foundation, supporting future educators through the University of Louisville.
Preserving Helm’s historical materials was another part of the initiative. In August 2021, Cherry donated her portrait and student register to the Filson Historical Society for permanent preservation, access, and study. The register covers 1909–1915 and records students’ names, ages, residences, and occupations. These records offer a rare look at Helm’s work and the people she served.
Continuing the philanthropic commitment established during the original Helm project, Big Wall Sign & Mural plans to match this year’s financial contribution to the Henrietta Helm Fund, supporting future educators alongside the repainting.
About Big Wall Sign & Mural
Big Wall Sign & Mural is a Chicago-based, veteran-owned creative business specializing in hand-painted murals, monumental portraits, commercial signage, and public art. Its work combines traditional sign-painting craftsmanship with contemporary advertising, historical remembrance, and community storytelling.
