A Louisville-based designer and arts educator, whose work has been featured in Sports Illustrated, the White House Visitor Center and Heaven Hill Distillery, has been selected as the Festival’s Official Poster Artist for 2026.

Shae Goodlett, who earned a Bachelor of Arts from Bellarmine University and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Louisville, considers himself a lifelong artist. His love for art traces back to his childhood. His earliest memories of drawing are when he and his older brother would copy images from “Batman” comics.

Goodlett says being named the Festival’s 2026 Official Poster Artist is a career milestone.

“As a native Louisvillian, the poster release is something I look forward to every year. To be named this year’s artist feels like a bucket-list accomplishment,” Goodlett said. “I really leaned into the spontaneity of mark making and color application, creating moments in the piece that might be hard to replicate even for myself. I think this approach holds an energy similar to that of the events of the Derby Festival itself.”

Goodlett began his illustration career as a weekly contributor at Louisville Magazine and published his first book, “The Meatshower” in 2018. His artwork has been exhibited in galleries across Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio, and he teaches graphic design and illustration at the University of Kentucky.

He lives in Louisville with his wife, Jackie, and their two daughters, Hazel and Lolly. For more information about Goodlett, visit ShaeGoodlett.com.