Young sidewalk artists adopts Danville as his new hometown

Now it’s a business for Will Justus, a 25-year-old who considers Danville his new hometown.

Chalk it up to a zig-zag path that brought the Blacksburg native to Southside Virginia, a place where he feels at home.

Concrete is the substrate of choice for Justus. Bricks and steps don’t complicate things. Actually, sometimes it makes it easier for his creations to flow.

After drawing a flower on the sidewalk of his girlfriend’s home with chalk, he now has a business to use his artist abilities to spread messages — along with a lot of smiles — around the region.

The only enemy is a heavy rainstorm, something that’ll wash away the work that can take 12 or more hours to create.

Justus was born in Blacksburg, the college town of Virginia Tech.

He grew up going to the games there, like most of the residents.

“I guess I never really felt that deep of a connection,” he said of the dominance with the large university.

After graduating high school in 2017, he entered Virginia Tech to pursue graphic design as a general art major. For this type of path, the first year in college is spent building a portfolio that will be used to place a student in a specified assigned program.

But, he struggled a bit with it.

“I hadn’t been an artist my entire life,” Justus said in an interview last month at Averett University’s library.

He was more a math and science guy. He finished his second year of calculus in high school.

But it was a graphic design class in high school — and an inspirational teacher — that unlocked his art aptitude.

After not making it into the graphic design program at Virginia Tech, he first considered going into engineering. Then he was worried about credits not transferring.

He ended up taking a few years off from college and worked with a family friend installing flooring.

Catching a teaching bug from his mom, it was the pursuit of elementary education that lured him to Averett.

“I think I was really inspired by my mom, she had recently taken a position at Blacksburg High School to teach cosmetology,” he said.

His mother had been a hairdresser for his entire life and eventually owned her own salon. Growing the urge to make a change, she saw the job opening for a cosmetology teacher at the high school, the very program where she got her start.

“This year, she had a 100% pass rate on the entire state board,” Justus said. “She’s really turned that program around.”

Although there were “tough moments” in being a teacher, Justus was touched by his mother’s sense of fulfillment when she made a breakthrough with students.

Justus toured Averett and was impressed with the small class sizes and the personal investment of the professors.

In what could now be considered his second zig — there are more zags to come — he moved to Danville to attend Averett with a goal of becoming a teacher.

As part of college classes in his first semester, he volunteered at Forest Hills Elementary School to shadow a third grade teacher.

He recalled one experience with a student who would draw on her dry-erase board.

“I ended up making a deal with her,” he explained. “In my free time, I would find a picture for her to color, and if she paid attention during class, then at the end she could color the picture.”

This experience affirmed that he could connect with kids at that age level. However, worried he would be burned out with the studies needed to become a teacher, he took another zag.

Transferring to an art major meant he could finish his degree in only a matter of semesters, instead of years.

“It was just a very easy decision to switch over to that,” he said, also stressing that he hasn’t abandoned his teaching dream.

It’s his hope he’ll become an art teacher and get a provisional license.

“I’ve zigged and zagged a whole bunch,” he openly admitted of his post-high school journey.

Justus is tech savvy and a “huge Apple fan,” which helped to funnel his creativity with art. He carries his main Apple apparatus — an iPad — in his backpack almost everywhere he goes.

One day at his girlfriend’s home — near the West Main Street area campus — Justus noticed some sidewalk chalk on the porch.

Inspiration hit him. He decided to draw a flower on the sidewalk as a “cute romantic gesture.”

It was small. It was simple. And it was a surprise.

“This was my first attempt at it since I was a kid,” he said of using the oversized pieces of chalk.

He said it wasn’t anything “memorable,” but it was enough to draw praise from his girlfriend and her parents.

She loved it. They loved it.

“It just made me feel so good to take something so simple and to create a little jolt of joy,’” he said.

That was the motivation — if not confidence boost — he needed to do it again.

When her parents went on a two-week trip to Egypt in February 2023, he drew a more elaborate creation to welcome them back.

“It just kind of became a thing after that,” he said.

Another drawing at the home came for Easter that year.

His first public display was at the Ruby B. Archie Library in Danville, where Justus also works.

“Will approached our youth services librarian and asked if she minded if he did a drawing for an event,” Russell Carter, the library director, told the Register & Bee.

“He sketched out what he had in mind and then made it happen on a much grander scale,” he explained. “From that point on, we were hooked.”

Justus volunteered to come in on a Sunday in April 2023 for his sidewalk art.

“This was was the one that really started it all,” he said, pulling out his iPad to find a photo of the flower growing out of a book. “It was a larger-scale and it had more colors.”

He had immediate feedback with patrons not expecting something so complicated.

Being a humble person, when someone would venture inside the library to ask who made it, he’d quietly day “yeah, that was me.”

Justus often rejected compliments. But, after more sidewalk drawings he got excited and his self-conformation expanded.

Then there was a big event and it was time to go a little more “grandiose.”

He drew a giant dragon on the sidewalk.

“I got to hear a lot of people saying, ‘oh the drawing is so awesome, my family loved it,’” he said.

That’s when he became more invested in it.

Up until last summer, his girlfriend’s sidewalk and the library were the only two canvases he had.

Taking advanced drawing classes at Averett changed that.

“And that’s where I was really able to experiment with the chalk,” he said.

His professor encouraged him to meet with the dean to see if he could do some drawings at Averett.

The first was in September for Hispanic Heritage Month.

He spent about 12 hours outside the student center creating work of a sombrero and maracas. With his math skills coming into play, he positioned both perfectly so a person would be able to stand in one spot and it appear they were wearing the sombrero and playing the maracas.

“We truly enjoy working with Will and seeing his creations, and are proud that Averett students like him are making an impact on the world around them,” Cassie Jones, the associate vice president of university marketing and communications, told the Register & Bee. “His work on our campus and at countless locations around the region have brought joy and sparked connection through art, and we are thankful for the many ways this community has lifted him up and celebrated his talents.”

For Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, he produced artwork on the steps of the university’s student center.

That ended up being easier since he had a place to sit for hours on end, instead of bending over.

His first commission came from Michelle Bowers, with Old House Life. Bowers owns historic homes.

“She was the first person who reached out to me in doing a commission,” he said.

Since it was in the fall, pumpkins adorned the sidewalk in front of a two-story historic home.

After getting his business license in March, he can now accept work from the city. Called Justus Chalking It Up, it uses his last name as a double play on words.

Recently Plan Danville — an engagement project with the community for the city’s comprehensive plan — commissioned him to draw the city’s new logo and the group’s symbol on a Union Street sidewalk.

This marked the first time he confirmed his vision for his business, which is to be almost like an advertising agency combined with artists.

“What I do is very promotional in nature and it’s not going to be there for very long,” he said. “You walk up to it and you are surprised to see it.”

The chalk will fade over time and when a downpour comes it’ll wash away.

Extreme sun also becomes a factor, mainly because of the long hours needed to create it.

“It’s really just the hot temperatures and extreme cold,” he said of the hurdles outside of wet weather.

Nearing about 50 art pieces created, he’s going to use the summer to flesh out his business plan. He’s taking a marketing class now and wants to get a website and booking system established.

“That’s what this whole summer is about, figuring out the logistics,” he explained.

He’s looking to be geared toward businesses and storefronts to showcase sales and such.

There’s also birthday parties, like one for his neighbor who has a child who’s a fan of Thomas & Friends.

After getting his art degree, Justus has no intention of zigging or zagging, at least when it comes to where he wants to live.

“I would love to stay in Danville,” he said “I love the area.”

His goal is to be art teacher locally and wants to keep working at the library because he loves it there.

“It has it challenges, certainly, but just the environment and the people I work with, I wouldn’t trade that for anything,” he said.

His chalk creations are at least a side business but it could be something to support a full-time income.

“I just love this place so much now,” he said, with his voice cracking.

“Virginia Tech has just taken up so much of Blacksburg and kind of influences how it moves,” he said where he grew up.

With Averett and Danville, the mood is more about the people.

“There’s just so much about this city that fosters that community,” he said.

“The people that I’ve met here, the connections that I’ve made,” he continued. “I didn’t really make that many connections back in my hometown.”

He already has roots dug in Danville since he bought a house on North Main Street. His grandmother helped him co-sign, but he used money he saved up when living at home.

“It made sense on so many levels, where rent is always increasing,” he said, knowing he’d be here for at least a few years.

“I never really intended for me to feel so at home here,” he explained. “The possibilities have been endless since living here.”

One thing that helped was having his younger brother, Andrew Guynn, living with him while he also attended Averett.

“That kid is so smart,” he said of his sibling who’s about five years younger than he is. Guynn graduated high school with an associate degree and walked across Averett’s stage in the spring. Now Guynn’s heading to Ireland to pursue his master’s in biomedical science.

Sharing his home helped to bring the brothers together.

“We grew up not being very close,” Justus said. “He did so much for me growing up and I felt like I didn’t appreciate it as much as I should have.”

That brotherly time has been his favorite part of being in Danville.

In addition to the Riverwalk Trail, he’s a fan of River District Social, a sports and entertainment bar in Danville that recently debuted bowling as one of the offerings.

“I love everything they are trying to do,” he said, calling it a “beacon of entertainment.”

Looking back a year ago after his first drawing, Justus never dreamed it would springboard into this.

“Never did I think there was a possibility it could be a career,” he said. “It’s just been, it’s been crazy.”

Now he believes he can do anything he sets his mind to since there’s an abundance of opportunity in this area.

“I think the community that I’ve found here, I think that’s been a huge part in making me who I am today,” he said, as his voice grew softer and slower. “Because I don’t think I would be who I am today without moving here.”