Art Exhibit: “Glimpses of Hope” by David Thompson

About the Exhibit:

“Glimpses of Hope” by David Thompson will be on display in Cortland Free Library’s Art Gallery during regular hours (Monday through Thursday, 9:30AM to 8:00PM; Friday 9:30AM to 5:00PM; Saturday 9:30AM to 3:00PM) for the month of February with an opening reception on Saturday, February 10 at 10:30AM.

About the Artist:

Cortland native David Thompson, 49, has faced his share of challenges and knows firsthand the importance of having a creative outlet. David struggled with addiction to prescription drugs and heroin before starting MOUDs (medications for opioid use disorder) and eventually weaning off of suboxone. But alcohol was always his main substance. His family wanted him to get help. “I knew I was in trouble but I didn’t know how to get out of anything,” he remembers.

On Halloween night, 2022, David went to rehab. It was there that he started drawing, a step beyond the doodling he’d done in the past. After his 30-day stint in rehab, he was homeless for 20 months. At one point, he relapsed and went back to rehab; it was that time that something took. He started to see glimpses of hope.

And he drew. Drawing “keeps me out of my head,” he says. He went from drawing in notebooks and sketchpads to using canvas. “Some are ballpoint pen because that’s what I could afford at the time.”

He left his artwork behind at the places he frequented—Grace & Holy Spirit, Cortland Free Library, 7-Eleven, DSS, the coffee shop—simply because he didn’t have a place to keep them while he was homeless.

For his debut exhibit, those pieces—some gifted, some collected, some purchased—have been lent back to the artist for “Glimpses of Hope” showing throughout the month of February at Cortland Free Library. Some artwork will be for sale. David also recently auctioned off three pieces at Loaves & Fishes, where he works, to benefit the organization that he says helps keep him sober. – JLG