Jail murals offer inmates hope

SANDPOINT — A pair of inmates at the Bonner County Jail are putting some color into the drab facility.

George Sebastian Walter and Jeremy Gene Johnson were granted permission by jail officials to paint a landscape mural featuring the Ernest Hemingway quote, “...a lot of state, this Idaho, that I didn’t know about.”

The mural depicts the landscapes of southern and northern Idaho bisected by a profile of Hemingway’s famous mug. The mural is on a wall in the jail’s indoor recreation room.

Walter, a tattoo artist, designed the mural. Both inmates painted it.

“I figured because of my criminal past, it was time to give something back,” Walter said of his motivation for doing the piece.

The mural was originally intended to have a religious theme, but jail officials denied the request to avoid any entanglements with inmates of other faiths.

Walter at first gravitated toward a Christian theme after having a religious experience when he bottomed out in Priest River in June. Homeless and alienated from friends and family due to his criminal lifestyle, Walter was motivated to pray while he was behind the cemetery.

Walter, 45, had never prayed before in his life.

“Something told me it was time,” said Walter, who resolved to turn himself in at the sheriff’s office on an outstanding arrest warrant.

Upon being booked into the jail, he noticed a distinct lack of color in the lockup.

Walter’s initial proposals were rejected because of the religious theme. He would have given up if not for the encouragement of Johnson, 30, who also has a background in tattoo work and had recently discovered his own spirituality.

The seventh request turned out to be the charm. Jail officials approved the mural and purchased the materials used to paint it.

“We’re still under 60 bucks,” Walter said of the cost.

Walter and Johnson are working on another smaller mural for the same room.

A draft drawing of the mural features a set of hands holding a business-size envelope with the word “hope” prominently displayed. Below that is banner which reads, “change is not only possible, it’s inevitable.”

The mural will be strategically located on a wall that’s visible by inmates who are being booked into the facility.

“That’s a good sign for people: Don’t give up hope,” said Johnson.

They settled on using an envelope in the design because of the importance of contact with the outside world.

“That’s really all we have in here — mail and phone calls,” Johnson said.

Walter said the overarching message of the murals is not folding your hand in the face of adversity.

“It’s never too late to change. Don’t give up,” he said.