Black History Month is a time to honor and celebrate the fullness of Black history, talent, and culture. There is an abundance of opportunity to acknowledge and support local artists and black-owned businesses in Downtown Lynchburg, not only during the month of February, but year-round as well. We thrive because of the passion and distinct talent these entrepreneurs and artists bring to the community.
Show your thanks by supporting black-owned businesses, visiting the local public artwork, and learning about the rich Black history throughout Downtown Lynchburg.
Black-Owned Businesses
The close-knit community and economic prosperity in Downtown Lynchburg is owed in part to the iconic black-owned businesses that contribute to our collective success. Not only do these business owners provide vital products and services, but they also pour much of themselves into their work. The care and attention to detail is evident.
Barb’s Dream Hut
📍1219 Main Street
Ask someone in Lynchburg where to find a delicious southern style breakfast, and Barb’s Dream Hut is surely on the list! Barb’s Dream Hut has been located inside the Lynchburg Community Market for 18 years, but Barbara Blair has been serving her home cooking to dedicated customers for over 35 years.
Country Cooking by Irene
📍1219 Main Street
Fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, cornbread, slow cooked vegetables, and sweet iced tea make up the classic, southern style experience, and it can be found right in the Lynchburg Community Market at Country Cooking by Irene. This community staple is owned by Irene Rixey.
The Diamond Room
📍920 Commerce Street
The Diamond Room is a premier beauty salon in Downtown Lynchburg, where luxury meets expertise. With a team of six highly skilled women, the salon specializes in eyelash extensions, makeup artistry, waxing, hair styling, and hair extensions. Committed to providing an exceptional experience in a chic and welcoming environment, The Diamond Room helps clients enhance their natural beauty while building lasting connections.
Director’s Cut Barber Shop
📍915 Main Street
If you’re looking for a classic barber shop, Director’s Cut is the way to go. The charming 90’s movie theme and comfortable chairs provide a relaxing experience, and the haircuts are always on point. In addition to barbershop services, Director’s Cut provides mentoring to aspiring high school barbers.
Heritage Connection Gift Shop
📍915 Main Street
You can always count on Heritage Connection Gift Shop to have just what you need. Known as “Lynchburg's most unique shop,” Heritage Connection has everything from handmade clothes by master tailor and owner, Ronnie Shoultz, to fine quality gifts that will become treasured family heirlooms. Bring in your dresses and suits that need expert altering, and you’ll be met with exceptional service.
Mother Nature’s Soul Food Vegan
📍616 FIFTH Street
Mother Nature's Soul Food Vegan serves comfort food dishes made with 100% vegan, alpha-gal friendly, and dairy-free ingredients. You can find a delicious full vegan menu right in Downtown Lynchburg with popular menu items like vegan meatloaf, drumettes, and macaroni and cheese.
Mrs Joy’s Absolutely Fabulous Treats
📍1008B Commerce Street
Tarsha Joyner embodies “joy”. She welcomes each customer that visits her bakery like family. Her quality products reflect her attention to detail and belief in doing things the right way. Her baked treats are so popular that they have even been featured on Food Network and Fox.
Nail Bar on Main
📍1337 MAIN STREET
Located in a cozy nook across the street from RA Bistro, the newly opened Nail Bar on Main is ready for business! A clean, minimalist interior with red and pink accents welcomes patrons, while four experienced and licensed nail technicians, including owner Lyric Monroe, are ready for bookings or walk-ins.
Ninth Street Parlor
📍108 Ninth Street
Downtown Lynchburg’s premier barbershop and salon offers a wide variety of services for men. A spa-like atmosphere with rich mahogany furnishings, marble floors, and a soothing fountain promise a luxurious salon experience.
Oshun Organics
📍1219 Main Street
Oshun Organics products are all plant-based, free of dye, and cruelty-free. The handmade products are created by Karrye right in her shop. With products ranging from essential oils and deodorant to body scrubs and face lotions, all of your personal bath and body needs are covered.
Relax Massage
📍1107 Church Street
Relax Massage offers VIP, appointment-only services like manicures, pampering hot-stone pedicures, and relaxing massage therapy sessions. Michelle’s exclusive services offer a “mind, body, and soul mini-vacation.”
Sylvia’s Boutique
📍1111 Church Street
Sylvia's Boutique hosts a variety of carefully curated women's clothing, handbags, jewelry, shoes, and gifts for special occasions. This one-stop shop serves women of all shapes and sizes with the trendiest fashion choices. Sylvia is attentive to each customer and takes joy in offering her assistance in finding the perfect, chic outfit for any occasion.
The Loving Co.
📍901 Jefferson Street
The Loving Co. perfectly combines a coffee shop and retail space into one convenient stop. With delicious coffee and unique handmade items, you are sure to find something special here. The Loving Co. also hosts local musicians and speakers for live music and events. One popular weekly event, Insomnia Night, offers extended night hours and caffeine to fuel students who plan to study late.
The White Hart Cafe
📍1208 Main Street
Known as “Lynchburg’s Living Room,” The White Hart Cafe invites you to curl up with a good book on a cush armchair or meet with some friends for brunch and freshly-roasted coffee. The cafe strives to use locally-sourced ingredients in each menu item and offers ample space to relax and stay awhile.
Wick & Pour Candle Bar
📍205 Ninth Street
Wick & Pour Candle Bar is an interactive experience in Downtown Lynchburg, offering guests the opportunity to create custom candles in a stylish and inviting setting. With a wide selection of scents and vessels, visitors can blend fragrances to craft a candle that reflects their personal style. Whether for a solo creative session, a date night, or a group event, Wick & Pour provides a hands-on experience that is both fun and memorable.
The Yard on 5th Street
📍801 FIFTH STREET
Find delicious southern comfort food and unrivaled barbeque plates at The Yard on 5th Street. Nestled in the Historic Black-business Corridor of Downtown Lynchburg, owner William Patterson, his wife, LaRhonda Cashwell, and business partner Meekoo Kelliher have created a laid-back atmosphere that includes classic soul-food and live local music, weather permitting.
Zola’s Beauty
📍1000 Jefferson Street
Women- and minority-owned and operated Zola’s Beauty is a top resource for services like waxing, facials, lash extensions, and nail care. Zola’s is the place to go to indulge in self-care or to pamper your favorite lady.
Local Visual Artists
Downtown Lynchburg is a vibrant hub of artistic expression, especially when it comes to outdoor public art. From the landmark Creating Our Culture mural overlooking the Lynchburg Community Market, to striking installations that enhance our cityscape, local artists are transforming our public spaces into open-air galleries. The Black artists below have made a lasting impact on Downtown Lynchburg, adding color, culture, and creativity to our streets and the Bluffwalk for all to enjoy.
Christina Davis
Painter, mural artist, and art instructor, Christina Davis, does it all. Christina’s work can be found in several public locations including on the interior and exterior walls of the newly opened Uno Más and at Hill City Hardwoods on 13th Street. Her well-known portrait of Lynchburg’s first Black mayor can be seen at Lynchburg Museum. Christina was also one of the muralists for the Creating Our Culture mural at the Lynchburg Community Market. She has worked on many collaborative projects like the large mural on 5th Street that she did with Lynchburg University students. She has also made multiple contributions to the Art Alley.
Jawansa Hall
As the owner and Creative Director of Black Water Branding, Jawansa uses his unique talents to help businesses build their brands through authentic and inclusive storytelling. His creativity and innovation shines through in his sound and design. Jawansa was one of the key players in the design and execution of the Creating Our Culture mural.
Twon Smith
Twon Smith has been illustrating since childhood and pursued a degree in Painting and Printmaking from Virginia Commonwealth University. He creates loose and expressive art and digital storyboards. Twon was one of the muralists for the Creating Our Culture mural at the Lynchburg Community Market. In his spare time, Twon practices Jiu Jitsu at The Renaissance Academy of Martial Arts.
Justin Holmes
J.H. Artistry specializes in acrylic on canvas paintings with vibrant colors and surreal motifs. Justin contributed his piece, Koncept Culture, to the Spark Joy rotating art gallery in the Art Alley. You can find Justin’s other works on display at the Lynchburg Art Club and Gallery on Rivermont, Maier Museum at Randolph College, or Daura Museum at the University of Lynchburg. He also welcomes custom orders!
Kenny Nnoli
Kenny Nnoli is a multifaceted artist who incorporates many disciplines in his creations, often combining illustration and design. He is originally from West Africa, but now lives in Lynchburg with his wife and children. You can find Kenny’s art on display at Sundog Art Studios, coming in 2025. Currently, one of Kenny’s projects, Walking, is on display in the Spark Joy Gallery in the Art Alley downtown.
Joshua Carter
Joshua Carter is an actor, visual artist, and educator. Over the years, Joshua’s love of color and texture has grown into a fascination with the image of African Americans throughout history. More recently, he has explored the medium of acrylic paint and paper collage. His premiere exhibit, Metamorphosis: A Palpable Abstraction (2019), focused on abstractions and heavy texture using paper and gel mediums. In the past, Joshua’s art has been displayed at Riverviews Artspace. Since 2019, he has been sharing his art with the public as a street vendor. Joshua was commissioned by the DLA to create the artwork on the front of the new Fifth Street Mural in his signature, bold style.
Larry Lewis Taylor Jr.
Larry Taylor Jr. is a well known local photographer and musician who has been a resident artist at Riverviews Artspace. Currently, Dreaming, one of Larry's digitally printed original artworks, hangs proudly in the Spark Joy Gallery. When Larry isn’t taking pictures, he’s playing chill beats on the bass for Midnight Radio.
Places to Learn
What better time is there than now to learn about the rich history of the Lynchburg community? Lynchburg is ripe with opportunities to educate yourself about the people, places, and historical events that make us who we are today. You can visit these museums during normal business hours, or schedule a private appointment to stop by this month.
Anne Spencer House and Garden Museum
📍1313 PIERCE STREET
Find the former home of the Harlem Renaissance poet, Anne Spencer, right on Pierce Street. The Anne Spencer House and Garden Museum is one of most intact house museums in the United States and features the only restored garden of an African American in the nation. Not only was Anne Spencer a poet, but she was also a civil rights leader and advocate. The premises served as a gathering place for iconic African Americans such as W.E.B. Du Bois, Langston Hughes, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Granddaughter of Anne Spencer, Shaun Spencer-Hester, serves as the Director, Treasurer, and Curator of the museum.
Legacy Museum of African American History
📍403 MONROE STREET
The Legacy Museum displays permanent and rotating educational exhibits featuring the significant contributions the African American community has made to Lynchburg and the nation as a whole. The purpose of the museum is to enrich the lives of local residents and visitors by fostering an appreciation of the Black community through memorabilia, exhibitions, programs, and workshops.
Lynchburg Museum
📍901 COURT STREET
Although a visit to Lynchburg Museum will encompass learning about the history of Lynchburg as a whole, the museum spearheads two programs specifically dedicated to Black history in the city. Hill City Roots is a self-guided tour that will take visitors to several important landmarks in Downtown Lynchburg, and Silent Witnesses, a collaborative public history project with Legacy Museum, documents the enslaved experience in Lynchburg in order to educate citizens of all ages. A walk through the museum will shed light on several prominent Black community members throughout history.
Celebrate Black History Month with us year round by frequenting these local businesses, appreciating the extraordinary talent these artists and entrepreneurs bring to our community, and taking time to learn and reflect on the remarkable Black history of Downtown Lynchburg.
