Goodnight (Paul) is born in Chicago.

Paul Goodnight moves to Boston as a child, is raised by a foster family, graduates from high school, and serves in the U.S. Army in Vietnam. Returning to Boston, he attends the Vesper George School of Art and graduates from the Massachusetts college of Art. After one of his works is displayed on the Bill Cosby Show in 1984, Goodnight’s work becomes popular in the entertainment industry. He subsequently travels around the world, studies with John Biggers and Rohan Allan Crite, and his works are subsequently commissioned by the U.S. Olympic Committee and World Cup.