He took his mantra from a Jimmy Buffett tune: Breathe in … Breathe out … Move on! And until he died of leukemia at age 16, Dylan Price kept moving.
During his three-year illness, Dylan, a vital member of Westminster’s youth group, perfected his art, learned to play guitar and encouraged other sick kids. Now one of Dylan’s pieces decorates the wall of the church’s youth courtyard, moving others with its positive message and bright colors. The wall wrap shows an artist spraying out a rainbow of colors. Its caption is from Joel 2:28, the verse that begins, “In those days, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.”
“He was a very faithful kid, and he drew on his faith to get him through this,” says his mom, Sandi Price. “He had his down days, but he tried to put one foot in front of the other. He would say nothing but good came out of his diagnosis.”
Dylan, diagnosed at age 13 with AML (acute myeloid leukemia), spent most of his freshman and sophomore years at home or at UNC Hospitals -- he was known there as the “Mayor of the Fifth Floor” because of his dedication to the younger patients. He began working with art and music therapists at the hospital, and in 2013 committed to posting a new piece of art each day of the year on his Facebook or Instagram pages.
“He was very talented, and he would draw the most random things,” Sandi says. “People were so excited, anticipating each day’s drawing.”
Dylan returned to Page High School for his junior year and started working in Westminster’s nursery. When he died in October 2013 after a sudden heart attack, his art classmates at Page made good on his legacy, posting their art in his honor for the rest of the year. Some of his friends got tattoos of his work; Westminster youth wore t-shirts emblazoned with his art on their mission trip to the Dominican Republic.
Sandi treasures Dylan’s art journals, filled with everything from intense studies of the human eye to a portrait of Michael Jackson. Debbie Brown, along with other Westminster youth elders and youth pastors who were close to Dylan, selected the art for the new wall wrap from hundreds of his drawings and paintings.
Dylan’s positive worldview was an inspiration to both youth and adults, Debbie says. That’s why having his art on the mural in the revitalized youth space is so important.
“Even today, we lead our lives that way, with positivity,” she says. “What a legacy to leave.”
Youth Elder Bryan Bowers helped turn the small-scale piece of art into a large wall wrap for the courtyard. Piedmont Graphics did the printing and installation.
Sandi hopes Dylan’s mural, with its rainbow of color, and his indomitable spirit, will continue to inspire Westminster’s youth. “He always looked for the rainbow,” she says.