Bartlett resident Craig Thompson is donating his time and brightening the community where he lives with his artistic talents.

The result is a 45-foot-by-25-foot treasure — an interactive mural featuring blue sky and stained-glass angel wings at Bartlett United Methodist Church.

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“It’s something I hope will bring some more opportunities for the church, for people to be interested to come here,” Craig said.

Bartlett United Methodist, at 5676 Stage Road, was built in 1969, and it has been a cornerstone of the community since then.

Church Youth Director Lynn Thompson (no relation to Craig) asked Craig to do the mural. Their sons grew up as the best of friends, so they knew each other well.

“He’s such an amazing artist, and he was game to do it,” Lynn said. “Now we will probably be known as the church with the wings, which is awesome.”

Thompson last painted a mural 40 years ago at Grimes Memorial United Methodist Church, at 4649 Summer Ave. in Memphis. That church was torn down in 2019.

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He created Disciple Design at 390 S. Main St. in Downtown Memphis 31 years ago.

“It was started as a response to most of the stuff in the faith-based world not looking as good as the stuff in the regular world, as far as album covers, logos, everything. It looked second-rate,” Craig said. “To me, the gospel message is the most important message that we have, and it was not being (portrayed) as such.”

Since the early 1990s, his firm has created logos for the University of Memphis tiger, Bellevue Baptist Church, and Germantown Community Theatre, as well as branding, videos and collateral pieces of all kinds.

He was a member of Bartlett United Methodist for about 25 years.

“My kids grew up here, and we’ve maintained a really tight connection with this church,” Craig said. “Everything I do for the church is donated. It was just a matter of trying to find the time.”

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It has actually taken about a year and a half to get the project underway due to paint shortages and the ongoing COVID pandemic.

“It’s a red brick wall, so I felt like it needed a background to help make it pop,” Craig said. “So I decided to paint a big sky and have these wings in the sky.”

The mural actually features two sets of wings - one larger size for adults and a smaller pair for kids - so that anyone can stand in front of them and have their picture taken.

Years ago, Craig designed all of the stained glass in the church, building it with some friends.

“I had never seen any wings done in stained glass, and I thought it would kind of tie everything in conceptually, not realizing how long it would take me to paint them,” Craig joked.

In recent years, Thompson has also created elaborate chalk designs on pavement and sidewalks downtown for civil rights issues, in various neighborhoods, at the Brooks Museum, and at Saint Francis Hospital for the staff working during the pandemic.

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“I think that was God preparing me for this because the chalk got bigger and bigger in scale, and I got a little more comfortable with that,” he said. Local muralist Jamond Bullock also gave him some pointers about how to best project the image.

Church members expect the artwork to be a drawing card and a talking point for the community. 

“We are just so blessed. The mural is something bright in this world that we need,” Lynn said. “We had this blank canvas on our Life Enrichment Center, and now it looks like the sky is plowing through it with these two angel wings. So we hope our community can use it and have pictures made, and the high school kids are able to enjoy it.”