Many in Central Ohio have been looking for ways to keep the spirit of Johnny Gaudreau alive after the recent passing of the Blue Jackets star and his brother, Matthew.
For Cecilia Martyna, the best way to do it was through art.
The 2023 graduate of Dublin Jerome High School grew up a Blue Jackets fan and also has family in Calgary, so she’s long been familiar with the exploits of Gaudreau on the ice. She’s also an excellent chalk artist, using the medium to find ways to spread positivity in the community.
So when it came time to pick a subject for Easton Town Center’s Chalk the Block event Oct. 5, Martyna chose to draw a portrait of Gaudreau.
“I had known the story, and it is incredibly tragic, of course,” Martyna said. “I really wanted to honor Johnny somehow, and that chalk festival was such a great opportunity to do that. I had that connection and have been watching hockey growing up, so it was just an opportunity to bring that to the group of people in Columbus and Easton over the weekend.”
The response to the 10 foot-by-10 foot piece was immediate, with the picture of her finished product spreading quickly on social media. Fans were inspired by both the quality of her work as well as the significance of honoring Gaudreau in the weeks after his devastating passing.
For Martyna, that’s always the goal with her art.
“One of the things I think that has come out of this chalk was it’s cool to see all the comments and responses about Johnny and seeing all of the incredible things about him as a person,” Martyna said. “It’s cool to see someone who was such a strong athletic figure be known for who he was as a person and not just his accomplishments on the ice. To see the art be able to touch so many people has been so humbling.”
One of the best parts of being a chalk artist, Martyna said, is that the nature of the medium allows her to interact with people as the project is being done. Considering the Gaudreau piece took around eight hours to produce, she was able to talk with plenty of observers during her time creating it at Easton, including young hockey players who would walk by and tell her they wore No. 13 on the ice because of Gaudreau.
Martyna expects to have the same conversations on Tuesday when she will be at Nationwide Arena to produce another piece on Gaudreau. The Blue Jackets will be honoring the Gaudreau brothers and their family during the home opener, including a pregame ceremony, the giveaway of “13” patches to fans and fundraising activities for the John and Matthew Gaudreau Foundation.
“I think the biggest difference with chalk from most other mediums is the social performance art side of it,” she said. “The part that really pulls it all together is that community aspect of it. It’s really cool to be able to have conversations while you’re doing it. It’s such a neat way to have art that is so public and so live. I always say the coolest part of the chalk is not necessarily the process of the chalk and not necessarily the completed project.”
The funny thing is that Martyna doesn’t consider herself all that artistic, but she first fell in love with the medium of chalk art at Karrer Middle School in Dublin thanks to art teacher Marlo Brown. As she started to learn the techniques necessarily to create pieces in chalk, she also realized she had a talent, and her focus is on creating pieces that will resonate in the community.
One previous piece at the Chalk the Block event was of a dog that had been up for adoption for an extended period of time, and after her drawing at Easton, the dog was finally adopted. Martyna also teaches chalk art classes for kids at the Columbus Metropolitan Library, and she’s done numerous pieces encouraging reading outside of library branches.
Martyna has many talents – she's on the rowing team at the University of Dayton and is a biochemistry major, with hopes of being an orthopedic surgeon or reconstructive surgeon – but she loves to make art because of its ability have a positive impact on the those around her.
“I always like to choose things that will connect with people,” she said. “It’s really what I love to do. That’s why I chose Johnny.”
