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photo by Talia Hodge
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“Charles ‘CJ’ Novak” by Bullach
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“Joshua Allan Ham” by Heather Bullach
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Massillon Museum
{ “Into Light Project Ohio: Continuing the Conversation”— Nov 12, 2022 to Jan 4, 2023 }
Last year, 107,622 people died from drug overdoses in the United States — the highest number ever recorded, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates.
“It is such a hidden epidemic because there is so much shame around it,” says Canton portrait artist Heather Bullach, whose work is featured in the “Into Light Project Ohio: Continuing the Conversation” exhibit at Massillon Museum from Nov. 12 to Jan. 4. It presents 40 drawings of Ohioans who died from drug overdoses.
The exhibit uses portraits to humanize people and remove the stigma associated with the disease of addiction, which prevents 90 percent of people with substance use disorder from getting help, according to Into Light Project. The return of the exhibit, which debuted at Malone University in 2021, displays 20 portraits done by Bullach and 20 done by Into Light Project founder and North Carolina resident Theresa Clower. She started the project after her son, Devin, died of a fentanyl overdose in 2018 when he was 32, and his portrait accompanies unique exhibits in each state. She chose graphite as the medium for its relatability.
“We’re all made up of black and white, and no one aspect of someone’s personality should define them,” says Clower. “These individuals in the exhibition were people just like all of us that were loved, had jobs, had hopes.”
Clower and Bullach were given a few photos of each person to combine into a final image, working with family members to refine details that bring the person’s spirit to life. For example, Bullach drew Akron native Charles “CJ” Novak, and his family wanted him in a bandanna since he loved them.
“The life that you see in an image,” she says, “[it’s] making sure I feel that same amount of aliveness in the drawing.”
Seeing the portraits together in the exhibit is poignant. Bullach read the narratives for the first time at the Malone exhibit and was struck by how many people were born around the year she was, including CJ. She also learned that CJ was a Boy Scout and dreamed of being a landscaper or on a search and rescue team.
“It made it a closer connection of just relating to them, realizing how easy it can happen to anybody,” she says.
The impact has been immense. Viewers have said it prompted them to have more empathy while families, who are gifted the original portraits in a private ceremony, have found healing.
“One mother said to me, …this was the first time she had held her head high since her son’s death,” Clower recalls.
As Into Light continues to tour, she hopes it returns dignity to more people and it sparks dialogue about addiction, possibly leading to more people getting help, which can save lives.
“It’s really powerful presenting all these stories of normal people who suffered from it,” says Bullach. “Erasing the stigma, removing the shame from it, lets people who are suffering feel they can bring it to light more.”
121 Lincoln Way E, Massillon, massillonmuseum.org
Exhibit name corrected 11/10/22
