Jon Osborne flexes unique superpower as Season 13 Artistic Sponsor.
Fans of Steel City Men’s Chorus shows will recognize Jon Osborne as a long-time second tenor with some of the best dance moves on our stage, but what you may not know is that Jon is also a nationally-recognized professional artist whose vibrant figurative works hang in galleries and private collections from Florida to Washington state. Now, he graciously is bringing his full talents as a performer and painter to Steel City Men’s Chorus as our Season 13 Artistic Sponsor.
​
Jon sees this as the perfect marriage of work and hobby. Jon suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2019 that left him with the unique talent of being able to literally see music as color and pattern. Music-to-Color Synesthesia is an artistic superpower and he will bring it to bear on the poster and marketing for our Spring show titled appropriately, Heroes and Villains. Best of all, you’ll have a chance to bid on that original work as well as another piece, which he will paint live, during our #NoFilter cabaret and fundraiser next June. ​Both pieces will be directly inspired by music from the performances, and we are more than excited to see what amazing art he will create!
Jon Osborne's work has been described as "Cubism meets primitive” by Rapid River Magazine Arts & Culture. Personally, he describes his paintings more as a convergence of North American folk art and neoexpressionism. However you categorize it, Jon’s art is expressive, graphic, and widely sought after. He describes his inspiration as “music-meets-art storytelling” thanks to a condition called music-to-color synesthesia that he developed following a traumatic brain injury in 2019. It allows him to actually see the colors and patterns of music, which he incorporates into his paintings.
​
Known as “Jon of Art” on social media, the 40-year-old Davenport, Ala. native says the theme to his work is the interconnectivity between the art of human experience and culture. He, as a black, gay, Buddhist living and working in Alabama, brings widely diverse aspects of life and nature together to reveal their beauty. “It’s a way to show that we need to be more open with accepting people the way they are,” he says. Indeed, he sees this as his mission, helping others to heal by bridging the power of visual arts and music.
​​
Jon’s works have been featured in exhibitions throughout Alabama and nationally, including the Kentuck Festival of the Arts in Tuscaloosa, Ala. where he has been a guest artist since 2023 and Birmingham’s Magic City Art Connection where he received the Joe Piper Award of Distinction. Other accolades include being the Featured Artist for Birmingham AIDS Outreach’s Arty Party in 2023 and Featured Artist for the UAB Palate & Palette event in 2025. He was also featured at “Oh What A Night!” at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans in the Fall of 2025. He has received media coverage and had his work featured on Homeworthy, in Shelby Living and in AD magazine.
In addition to singing with Steel City Men’s Chorus and supporting their mission to build community, educate, and give voice to the LGBTQ+ community, Jon also serves as a board member and teaching artist for the InToto Creative Arts Forum, which provides opportunities for artistic expression, healing, and connection for people affected by social and economic hardships in Birmingham, Alabama.