Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
- Cayden Crosby, nearly 8, channels his late father's artistic legacy through drawing.
- His father Corey, an artist, was tragically killed by gun violence in 2022.
MILWAUKEE — Cayden Crosby is getting ready to turn 8 in April, but he has already become a recognized artist.
Cayden has been drawing since he was 3 and has created hundreds of drawings of people in his life, his favorite movie and TV characters and more.
"He runs through notebooks like crazy," Cayden's mom Myia Vales said. "Paper all over the place, markers, pencils."
When Cayden was 3, his dad Corey was shot and killed.
"On July 16th, on my father's birthday my son was shot, we don't know who did it, he wasn't in any trouble, he was shot in front of my Mom's house," Cayden's grandma Tristaca Patrick-Yarbrough said.
Corey was an artist and enjoyed painting and drawing.
"He was my only son, he's been an artist since he was very little and he actually graduated from the Milwaukee High School of the arts," Patrick-Yarbrough said.
After Corey died, Cayden found comfort between the lines and started to draw and color.
"After my son passed away, art was his therapy and it still is his therapy," Patrick-Yarbrough said. "When I see Cayden, I see Corey all over again."
Cayden's passion for art has turned into more than just paper and pencils, and turned into a way to connect with his dad.
"His dad speaks to him through art because, honestly, they were never able to sit down and have one-on-one lessons," Vales said. "I am proud of him because I just think it's really cool that he can take all of his pain and emotions and things that he's been through and transmit that into these beautiful things."
With every drawing, Cayden carries a piece of Corey's passion and legacy.
"I feel like I owe it to my son to make sure that his legacy keeps going," Patrick-Yarbrough said.
Cayden placed second in Bob Ross America's Most Artistic Kid.
