Portrait of Marc Fogel unveiled at Butler Art Center
Marc Fogel, the Pennsylvania native who has recently returned home to America after spending over three years in a Russian prison, has completed the medical phase of his State Department rehabilitation program at a medical center in San Antonio, Texas, he shared with his lawyer on Saturday. He asked for patience as he entered the next phase.
His mother, 95-year-old Malphine Fogel, hopes he will come home in the next few days. She was speaking at the unveiling of a portrait of Marc during a kickoff event for the Age of Aquiauis Art and Music Festival at the Butler Art Center.
"If he could see this, he would probably be embarrassed to death, but secretly, I'm sure he would be thankful, as I'm sure we all are, Fogel said.
Marc's lawyer, Sasha Phillips, said he's progressing each day. Along with her work as a lawyer, Phillips is an artist herself, completing a central square of the mosaic, which Tom Mosser designed and put together.
"I decided to paint two angels. One an imaginary woman, one a real one - Malphine Fogel," Phillips said.
She was central to her son's release, so it made sense she was at a central point of the painting.
Phillips called Malphine "the real angel, who prayed for him every day, who fought for him every day."
Mosser shared that the collaboration of artists who completed squares for the painting is symbolic of what is going on with Marc.
"The collaboration with his friends and family from the media to get the word out with politicians, and ultimately, a collaboration with the president to get him home," Mosser said.
The artwork was planned and completed before Marc was released.
The title is "Home."
He gave it that title because he wanted to envision Marc with the hope of him coming home.
Mosser hoped it could help bring attention to the fight to bring him home. Now, he said the event serves as a celebration of his impending homecoming.
As for when exactly that is, Phillips said that is up to Marc.
"Whenever he feels like a homecoming, he will come here, and you better believe if it its okay with Marc, we're throwing a party. We're going all out," Phillips said.
She said just like it took all of them to bring Marc home, it will take all of them to make him whole again.
