The moving art of James Thatcher
By Linda Engelhard
Sun contributor
Moving is rarely an easy task, but for artists with crates of canvases to transport, the prospect can be daunting. Fortunately, for artist James Thatcher, moving has been a constant in his life. Moving his art from Oregon to Northport was just one more step in his journey.
The artwork currently on display at Trinity United Church of Christ in Northport first came to life in Oregon where James volunteered at a food bank. He and a staff member picked up donated food from grocery stores and delivered it to the food bank warehouse, and from there, it was distributed to local food pantries as needed. One day, James and the staff member wondered why some volunteers agreed to help but did not show up. James hypothesized that the warehouse was too removed from the people who came to pantries. He resolved to communicate through his art the urgency of the work and the humanity of the people receiving food.
Photography was the first step. He visited a local food pantry and asked the people receiving the food for their consent to be photographed. After taking the photos, he digitized and then projected them onto what seemed appropriate canvases—broken down produce boxes and the stained papers that line them. The people receiving food knew that the food was often damaged or day old, and the soiled canvases were a realistic contrast to the usual pristine art gallery canvas. Then he filled in the lines and painted the portraits that currently look out from the walls of Trinity Church, the faces of real people communicating the humanity of neighbors who need food.
James has long understood the power of communicating through art. He remembers that as a child, he drew sketches of ant farms to describe the family dynamics he observed but couldn’t describe in words. James found verbalizing and public speaking to be difficult, even in elementary school, but art provided an avenue for expressing his ideas and perspectives.
When the Thatcher family moved from Michigan to Florida, James felt disconnected from the unfamiliar beach culture, so he spent long hours drawing in his room. Visiting artists who exhibited their work at the Thatcher art gallery would often stay with the family, and James began to view art as an actual profession. When the family returned to Michigan in the summers, his parents again ran art galleries, first in Traverse City near the Park Place Hotel and later in Northport.
During high school years, the family returned to Michigan permanently, and James hung one of his paintings in his older brother’s carved leather shop near the marina. A member of the Northport Thomas family who worked in Washington, D.C., admired the painting and later bought it. He invited James to move to D.C. and apply to the Corcoran School of Arts and Design. James felt encouraged but first studied for one more year at Northern Michigan University before packing his things and enrolling at the Corcoran. The Thomas family welcomed him, and he soon found an apartment and a job at a nearby restaurant. On one memorable workday, police cars filled the street and sirens blared, and soon the staff learned that President Reagan had been shot just outside. Despite the shock of that tragic event, James thrived at Corcoran and graduated in 1984.
During his art studies, James often worked with tools to assemble 3D collages, so when a classmate’s friend, a cabinet maker, offered James a job after graduation, he signed on to what became a 25-year career. He enjoyed the precision and geometry of cabinet making, and working with wood connected him with the forest geography of his youth. When his wife Deb’s work required moves from coast to coast, his tools traveled with him to new markets.
In 2011, James and Deb realized that their finances were sufficient for James to leave the precise work of cabinet making and return to the freedom of visual art. At first, his studio became intensely messy as he threw wood chips and weeds, rebelling against the rigidity of exact measurements. But with time, he returned to geometry with a new perspective, incorporating it into a minimalistic approach to art. Science and math were shared interests in his family, and they continue to influence his work.
In 2021, the moving truck pulled up once again. James and Deb decided to leave Oregon and make Northport their retirement home. In September of this year, when Trinity Church invited James to display his art, the timing was perfect. The National CROP Hunger Walk was scheduled for October, and James was coordinating the local effort for a second year. His portraits humanized the people in Oregon who needed food, and the exhibit at Trinity could speak to a new community about caring for its hungry neighbors. The local CROP walk raised five thousand dollars to feed men, women, and children in Leelanau and around the world. James Thatcher’s work is still on display and can be seen at Trinity Church in Northport on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Tuesday through Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. throughout December.
The print version of this story, which published on December 14, mispelled the author Linda Engelhard’s name. We regret the error.
