Local artist’s work displayed on cover of prestigious national magazine

Marcia Babler said she hit the national stage before her artwork appeared on the cover of this month’s “American Psychologist” magazine.

However, she said having her work displayed in such a way is thrilling.

“I am very pleased with the cover,” she said from her home in Libertyville Friday. “While I have been exhibiting my work nationally for awhile now, I’m very pleased to have it on the cover of such a prestigious journal. It’s quite an honor.”

The piece titled “Remembering Vincent” is a digital photographic print inspired by a visit to the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole monastery in Saint-Remy, France, where van Gogh was hospitalized with mental illness from 1889 until 1890.

Babler said she looked out the same window at the same Provence scene van Gogh saw, and it inspired her.

“Art is my voice for telling stories, and symbolism is a major component of my work,” she said. “The piece captures loneliness while utilizing bright colors. It uses several of the recognizable objects seen in van Gogh’s paintings like the chair and bed.”

Babler said she has exhibited in local, regional and national juried art shows. Most recent shows include exhibits in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Virginia.

She is also a tenured professor at Columbia College Chicago and serves on the CCT Gallery Visual Arts Committee of the Northwestern University Settlement Association in Chicago.

“I think the piece was selected for the cover of the October issue of the ‘American Psychologist’ because of the symbolism emphasized in the piece,” she said. “I think it was appropriate for them because of who Vincent Van Gogh is. I’m happy they chose it.”