Local waiter wins art commission

Mardi Suhs | Cadillac News Charles Thompson, an ex-con on parole from the California State Prison system now waiting tables in Cadillac, won a coveted art commission by submitting photographs of his mural work in the Donovan State Prison near San Diego.

CADILLAC - When the Charlevoix Public Library hosts its grand reopening next month, one local artist will sip the celebratory punch with a sense of pride and accomplishment.

Charles Thompson won the commission to create a two-story mural depicting the history of Charlevoix in the newly renovated building.

The massive artwork consumes a 15x17-curved wall in the old middle school, purchased by the library and now undergoing an $8.5 million renovation.

“People love it,” said Valerie Meyerson, Charlevoix librarian. “They are very impressed with the quality and the research that was done. Charles was really able to capture everything we wanted. We are really pleased.”

Thompson won the commission by submitting photographs of large murals he painted on the prison walls of the Donovan Correctional Facility near San Diego.

Although trained at both Kendall College and the Academy of Art in San Francisco, Thompson honed his artistic skills doing hard time in the California prison.

Discussing his past over a cup of coffee, Thompson, 34, resembles a golf pro more than an ex-con once posted on America's Most Wanted. But it was his prison work that got him the job.

“Ironically,” he stated, “prison made a difference. For one thing, I spent an awful lot of time drawing.”

Thompson said his “hustle” in prison was drawing portraits of inmates. Sentenced to eight years for burglary, he spent the last two years of the four he served in a program called Arts and Correction.

“They asked me to do a mural on the history of San Diego,” he explained. “I drew the whole thing in pencil, an 18-foot mural, before they would pay for the paints. It's just an incredible amount of work but I had the time.”

Thompson said he turned to crime in his 20s after getting hit by a car, an accident that left him buried in medical bills. Unable to make it bartending, he decided to take a financial shortcut.

“I didn't care any more,” he said of that time in his life. “I was a mess. I didn't care about the consequences.”

Released in 2004, Thompson transferred his parole to Michigan to live with his father Joe Thompson, a highly regarded disabled Vietnam veteran from Cadillac.

“I've changed a lot since then,” he said about his incarceration. “I learned an awful lot in prison. I got to paint murals and improve my portraiture. They were aware,” Thompson said of the Charlevoix library board, “that I don't have a resume and portfolio to get hired to do something like this. They have been very generous in getting me started in my career.”

Although the Charlevoix mural is already creating a buzz, Thompson said the biggest pay-off was the proud look in his father's eyes.

“To be this screw-up son and finally get something right,” he sighed, and his voice trailed off. “I'm returning to Kendall to get a master's degree in fine arts.”

Your local connection

€ What: Charlevoix Public Library Ribbon Cutting and Open House

€ Where: 220 West Clinton St., Charlevoix

€ When: Saturday at 12:30 p.m. The library opened to the public on Sept. 25

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