When her older brother was diagnosed with cancer, Ella Martin said she tried to stay out of the way. In doing so, she found her voice through art.
Martin, a 14-year-old from Covington, is currently competing in “America’s Most Artistic Kid.” The program elevates young artists across the country and drives fundraising for Blood Cancer United’s blood cancer research.
“It was kind of just like the perfect situation, because art is something I’ve loved since I was little, and my brother was diagnosed with blood cancer,” Martin said. “So it was like, perfectly fit for my life.”
Martin’s older brother, James, has been in remission from Hodgkin’s lymphoma since the summer of 2025.
Martin’s mom, Emily Martin, a visual and performing arts teacher at Holy Cross District High School, nominated her for the competition.
“She’s kind of all around artsy,” Emily Martin said. “She sings with the May Festival Youth Chorus at Music Hall. Her visual art is very good. Then she actually does the theater program here at school, too. She’s just kind of an all-around artistic kid.”
For the first round, “The Public Choice” grand prize, Martin submitted her previous work.
After advancing to the quarterfinals, competitors were required to submit artwork created using Bob Ross techniques from competition workshops. Celebrity guest judge Nicholas Hankins will select one competitor for the “Critic’s Pick” prize, the competition’s second award opportunity.
Emily Martin said the competition has been going on for months, and Martin is now in the top 1% of kids who entered.
The competition, now in the quarterfinals, is set up like a basketball tournament bracket. Quarterfinals end on April 9. Should Martin advance, she will move to the semifinals and then to the finals. She is currently in fourth place, at the time of publication. To vote for Martin, click here. One vote can be cast for free, while additional votes correspond to higher donation amounts to Blood Cancer United.
Emily Martin told LINK nky that through this competition, her daughter is channeling her family’s experience with her brother’s cancer diagnosis into her artwork, expressing what it means to be the sibling of someone who fought and overcame cancer.
“She definitely, over the last year, while he was sick, she almost tried to make herself kind of small and be like, out of the way,” Emily Martin said.
That led Martin to dig into her art and keep herself busy, doing her own thing.
“I think it kept her sane, and some of her art definitely shows it,” Emily Martin said.
One of Martin’s paintings, which she created during that time, is of a chest cavity being eaten away by a tumor.
“Doing this has been more therapeutic for her than any of the therapy we have paid for,” Emily Martin said. “I think she needed to do and have that way of processing, that physical way of processing.”
Martin said people always hear about the kids who got diagnosed with cancer, but you don’t hear as much from the parents or their siblings, and what the diagnosis does to the family.
“I tried to make myself like the least thing to worry about that I could so that they could take care of him,” Martin said. “I used my art to just express all my feelings.”
Winners of the “Public Choice” grand prize will receive a prize package valued at approximately $45,000, comprising a $20,000 honorarium, an appearance on “The Joy of Painting” show alongside certified teacher trainer Nicholas Hankins and their winning artwork showcased at the Minnetrista Museum’s Bob Ross exhibit.
Should Martin win the competition, she said she would put the $20,000 toward college.
“Going through that (cancer treatment) doesn’t leave a lot of-like college funds are gone,” Emily Martin said. “We’re still paying medical bills, and we’re going to be for a long time. So if she won, that’s what our family intent is for it. It would be for her education.”
The “Critic’s Pick” prize winner will receive a prize package valued at approximately $17,500, comprising attending a mentor session with Nicholas Hankins and having their winning artwork showcased at the Minnetrista Museum’s Bob Ross exhibit.
The semifinals of the competition begin on April 10 and end on April 16. The top competitors from each quarterfinal group will be divided into semifinal groups. Votes will be reset, and public voting will determine the top one semifinalist from each group who will then advance to the Finals.
Finals begin April 17 and end April 23. Votes will be reset, and public voting will determine the winner. The Public Choice grand prize winner will be announced on or before May 8.
Martin said she views art as a way to connect with those who experience her work, especially in this case, knowing that vote-related donations support a cause deeply personal to her.
“I would be happy to know that even though my whole family went through such a horrible experience that it ended up in something better (if she wins the competition), and that my art could be a way to support other families going through the same thing.”
