Richard Mayhew was born on April 3, 1924 in Amityville, New York. Inspired by his rich Afro-Native heritage, the works of Richard Mayhew bridge emotion with the environment by way of his “mindscapes”, or vivid abstract landscapes that aim to communicate the hidden realities of nature. “What I do with landscapes is internalize my emotional interpretation of desire, hope, fear, and love.” Utilizing techniques such as blending the foreground with the background and choosing bright colors to prioritize emotion, Mayhew's landscapes aim to communicate the transparent connection human souls have with nature’s spirit. As a member of legendary artist group Spiral and of the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition, Mayhew’s pursuit to display this transparency stem from a need to heal through offering different perspectives and encouraging open emotional responses to everyday environments. “My mindscapes are also about the healing of the long trauma that Black and native communities have experienced collectively.”  

Mayhew is the recipient of multiple grants and awards including the John Hay Whitney Foundation Fellowship and The Ford Foundation. His works are on view in numerous museums’ permanent collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, and the de Young Museum. He has taught at the Brooklyn Museum, the Art Students League, Smith College, and Pennsylvania State University, where he retired as Professor Emeritus in 1991 Upon his retirement from teaching, Mayhew and his wife moved to Santa Cruz, California, where he continues to paint.