Honouring My Father unveiled at City Hall

In the days that followed the October 22 fatal shooting of Corporal Nathan Cirillo at the National War Memorial, Ottawa artist Katerina Mertikas searched for a way to express the grief shared by all Canadians and to somehow help Corporal Cirillo’s five-year-old son Marcus. She soon decided to do what she does best, and create art from the heart.

This morning at Ottawa City Hall’s Heritage Building, Mayor Jim Watson and Mrs. Mertikas unveiled her original painting, _ Honouring My Father _ , and announced that gallery-quality prints of the painting are being sold to benefit the Marcus Cirillo national trust fund.

“ _ Honouring My Father _ is a fitting tribute to Corporal Nathan Cirillo’s service to our country and the mutual love between Corporal Cirillo and his son Marcus,” said Mayor Watson. “Selling prints of the painting to help aid Marcus Cirillo’s future is a tremendous gesture by Mrs. Mertikas and Koyman Galleries. I am honoured that Mrs. Mertikas has entrusted the original painting to hang in the Mayor’s boardroom at Ottawa City Hall, where I will proudly show it to all who visit.”

One of the prints will also hang in Jean Pigott Place on the main floor of City Hall.

“I created this painting on the day of the shooting as a way to express my tremendous sadness for the life that was lost and the son who would now be without a father,” said artist Katerina Mertikas. “I wanted the painting to benefit Marcus in some way and I was thrilled that Koyman Galleries was able to help achieve that. The Mayor’s boardroom at City Hall is the perfect place for the original painting to hang as a reminder to everyone not to forget that awful day, that young boy and his father.”

Prints of this painting are being offered through Koyman Galleries for $124. The gallery-wrapped limited edition prints are hand-signed and numbered by the artist. All profits will be contributed to the trust fund for Marcus Cirillo.