A Waterville man has been charged with stealing a drawing from an art show at the Waterville Public Library, a “happy ending” that can be credited to an alert library patron and staff, Deputy Police Chief Charles Rumsey said.
Jason Stephenson, 40, of Waterville told police Friday after the drawing was found in his apartment that he took the drawing, “Alive in the Darkness,” created by his cousin Brian Vigue, as a practical joke and meant to pay for it.
Stephenson, of 21 Elm St., was summonsed on a theft charge and banned from the library, Rumsey said. The drawing was priced at $300. He was issued a criminal trespass notice that he can no longer enter the library.
Vigue’s black and white graphite drawing was stolen Thursday from the library, where it was on display with hundreds of other works as part of the Maine Open Juried Art Show.
Vigue said he was relieved when he got the message from Waterville police Friday afternoon that his drawing had been found. “I think a good job was done by all,” he said.
The library staff was told by a patron that he had been talking to a man who was admiring the drawing shortly before it disappeared Thursday. “He was very interested,” Rumsey said. “He said how much he loved it and how great it was.”
When the patron described the man to the staff, they recognized the description. Stephenson had been seen hurrying from the library Thursday afternoon, wearing a coat long enough to conceal the 12-by-16-inch drawing, Rumsey said.
Rumsey said the department “is very familiar with him.” Stephenson appears in Morning Sentinel police and court logs going back several years on drug, motor vehicle and sex offender registry charges.
Stephenson wasn’t home when police arrived at his apartment, but a person who was there found the artwork and gave it to police, Rumsey said.
Vigue said Friday that the theft was especially disheartening because it’s the latest in a string of trying events for him and his wife, Amy Cryway, who own the The Framemakers.
Last May, their shop at 46 Main St. was damaged when a severe thunderstorm ripped through Waterville. The storm caused a pipe to burst, resulting in water damage throughout the shop, which caused a laptop to explode, sparking a small fire.
In April 2014, the front window of their shop was smashed and cost $5,000 to replace.
“Alive in the Darkness” took Vigue four months to complete. The drawing depicts a woman holding a gargoyle, with a gray mat and a silver metal frame.
Library Director Sarah Sugden said Friday the drawing was believed to have been taken around 3 p.m. Thursday based on the last time it was seen by patrons and when it was discovered missing by staff. The theft was reported to police shortly before 4:30 p.m.
“Waterville is a really caring community, where people notice what happens,” Sugden said Friday. “Everybody is really angry about this. A theft of this nature really takes from our whole community.”
About a month ago, a photograph depicting a historic scene of Waterville was stolen from a wall at the library. It hasn’t been recovered.
Sugden said the theft of items is “fairly common” in libraries across the country. However, she said that what made this theft more discouraging was that the artwork was stolen from an exhibit.
“The library wants to be a place where artists can showcase their work and feel safe,” Sugden said. In the wake of the theft, she said, the library is working to develop new security measures.
Vigue said Friday that he is in the early stages of developing a mural for the back of The Framemakers’ shop, with the idea of creating public art.
“I’ve been discussing some public art, and right now I’m feeling a little gun-shy about it,” Vigue said before Stephenson was named as the suspect. “There is this part that, what if I spend three months on this thing and the next day it is defaced?”
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