Background

Marcia Babler has been actively exhibiting her artwork since the late 1990's in Chicago and throughout North America. She has been juried into national and international fine art shows and has received numerous awards.

Art has been an important part of Marcia's life and though primarily a painter and digital photographer, she is always experimenting and working with new materials and techniques. She enjoys traveling and incorporates her observations from far away places in her work. A storyteller with a sketchbook or camera in hand, she reinterprets her travels and daily experiences in her work. People and contemporary life are the focal point of her art.

Marcia also uses her love of music in her work. Playing the harp as a hobby, the artist loves to have harmony and movement in her work. Her studio is surrounded with sounds of Spanish guitar, French torch songs and Gregorian chants as she works. The harmony influences the colors and motion seen in her work.

Her artwork is in corporate, university and private art collections in North America.

Statement

"My art is influenced by four factors impacting aspects of today's life --communication, relationships, technology and time. But I like to put a twist on these concepts either with humor or a retro look to create tension while setting a visual mood. Art is my voice for telling stories. Both time and concept-oriented, my ideas come from day to day observations, attempting to record a moment in time whether simple or complex. I work in paint, digital photography and with 3D materials.

Color and composition are also an important component in my work. I use color to enhance a mood and energize. I love color!! Composition reinforces the message I am trying to convey, either through repetition of shapes or movement."

• 3rd Annual Algonquin Public Art Program - Algonquin, IL (Oct 2007 throughout 2008)
• Symbolism, Myth and Ritual - Koehnline Museum of Art, Oakton Community College - Des Plaines, IL (Oct - Nov 2007)
• Christopher Art Gallery - Prairie State College - "Contemporary Symbolism", Chicago Heights, IL - Juror - Lanny Silverman, Curator of Exhibitions for the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs (Oct - Nov 2007)
• Union Street Gallery - "Perspectives", Chicago Heights, IL - Juror - Allison Peters, Director of Exhibitions at Hyde Park Art Center Chicago (Sept - Oct 2007)
• Chicago Art Open - Iron Studios, Chicago, IL (Oct 2007)
• Blanche Ames National Juried Art Exhibition 2007 - Sharon MA (Sept 2007)
• 12 12 Gallery Exhibition for the Arts 2007 - Richmond VA, Juror - Lee Hansley, Director of Hansley Gallery - Raleigh NC (June - August 2007)
• Tall Grass Arts Gallery Artist Exhibition (June - August 2007)
• Lemon Street Gallery 6th Annual Juried Exhibition 2007 - Kenosha WI, Juror - Professor Diane Levesque, Art Dept. Chair and Director (April 2007)
• Manchester National Juried Fine Art Exhibition 2007 - Richmond VA, Juror - Dr. Jefferson Harrison, Chief Curator Chrysler Museum of Art (Feb - March 2007)
• 20th Parkside National Juried Small Print Exhibit - UW, Juror Yuji Hiratsuka, Printmaker/ Professor-Art Oregon State University (Jan-Feb 2007)
• Zoom - Juried Photography Exhibit, Bloomingdale Park District Museum (Jan- Feb 2007)
• Anderson Arts Center Winter Juried Exhibition - Kenosha, WI (Nov 2006 - Jan 2007)
• Tall Grass Arts Association, Featured Artist in gift shop for November 2006
• Art for Sale 2006 - Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN (November 2006)
• 2006 Chicago Art Open, Chicago (October - November 2006)
• CCT Gallery - Northwestern University Settlement Association, juried artist exhibit (October - December 2006)
• "Faces and Places" juried exhibition, Bloomingdale Park District Museum, Bloomingdale, IL (September - October, 2006)
• CAC Around Town, Utrecht Gallery at Utrecht Art Supplies, Chicago (September - October 2006)
• Tall Grass Arts Association 51st Annual Gallery Artist Exhibition - Park Forest, IL (June - August 2006)
• Foto Annual Competition II - DreamBox Foto Gallery, Chicago, IL (June 2006)
• Chicago Area Artist Alliance - Spring 2006 Exhibition (May - September 2006)
• Juried Photography Show - Washington Gallery of Photography, Bethesda, Maryland (May - June 2006)
• Confessions, National Juried Exhibition, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, CA (April 2006)
• 2006 DFG Women Photographer's Competition- DreamBox Foto & Gallery, Chicago, IL, (March 2006)
• Juried Photography Exhibition - Bloomingdale Park District Museum, (January - February, 2006)
• Christopher Art Gallery 10th Anniversary Invitational Exhibition (January -February, 2006)
• Nineteenth Parkside National Small Print Exhibition, Juror Rudy Pozzatti, printmaker and Professor Emeritus - Indiana University (January - February, 2006)
• Fort Wayne Museum of Art, national juried show, Art for Sale (November, 2005)
• 12th Annual Juried Art Exhibit, Jasper Arts Center, Jasper, Indiana. Juror John Streetman III, Director of Evansville, Museum (September 2005)
• Alexandria Museum of Art's 18th Annual September Competition, Alexandria, LA, Juror David Houston, Chief Curator for the Ogden Museum of Southern Art (August - October, 2005)
• 18th McNeese National Works on Paper Juried Exhibition, Abercrombie Gallery, McNeese State University, LA, Juror Annette Carlozzi, Senior Curator of American & Contemporary Art for the Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, Texas (April, 2005)
• Photography: a juried exhibition of visual images - Anderson Arts Center, Kenosha Wisconsin (January - April, 2005)
• 2004 Winter Juried Exhibition, Anderson Arts Center, Kenosha, Wisconsin (November 2004 - January 2005)
• Works on Paper - Prairie State College Foundation Juried Regional Exhibition (October-November, 2004)
• 54th Annual Quad-State Exhibition, Quincy Art Center, Quincy, IL, Juror - Dr. Russell Panczenko, Director, Elvehjem Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin, Madison (May - June, 2004)
• POP Group Exhibition - Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL, Jurors - Myra Casis and Meg Sheehy, Zg Gallery (April - May, 2004)
• Galex 38 - National Juried Competition and Exhibition, Galesburg Civic Art Center, Galesburg, IL, Juror - Chris Verene, New York City (March - April 2004)
• Women Photographers Competition - DreamBox Foto & Gallery, Chicago, IL, Juror - Nancy Fewkes, Photography Department Faculty, Illinois State University (March 2004)
• Digitalis 3 - International Juried Show, Interurban Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (February - April, 2004)
• Minnesota National Print Biennial 2004 - Katherine E. Nash Gallery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Jurors - Siri Engberg, Walker Art Center; Marjorie Devon, Tamarind Institute - University of New Mexico; and John Scott, Xavier University. (January - February, 2004)
• Greater Midwest International Exhibition XIX - Central Missouri State University Art Center Gallery, Juror - Douglass Freed, Director of Daum Museum of Contemporary Art. (January - February, 2004)
• Hocus Focus 2004 Juried Photography Exhibition - Bloomingdale Park District Museum, Juror -Karen Irvine, Associate Curator - Museum of Contemporary Photography, Columbia College, Chicago (January - February, 2004)
• Photo 2003 - Bloomingdale Park District Museum, Juror - Leslie Kott, Art Institute of Chicago
• Digitalis 2 - International Juried Show, Evergreen Cultural Centre, Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada
• Galex 37 - National Juried Competition and Exhibition, Galesburg Civic Art Center, Galesburg, IL Juror - Sam Gilliam, Washington D.C.
• Dimensions 2003 - National Juried Fine Art Competition and Exhibition AAWS, North Carolina, Juror - Stephen Phillips, Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.
• Animal Images - Third Annual Juried Art Show, Juror - Ed Paschke, Chicago, IL
• TechArt - National Exhibition, South Shore Art Center, Cohasset, MA, Jurors - Dorothy Simpson Krause and Aaron Fry
• 68th Annual Cooperstown Art Association National 2003, New York, Juror - Fred Tschida
• "Art and Industry" - National Juried Exhibition, Union Street Gallery, Juror - Alain Gavin
• Fifteenth Parkside National Small Print Exhibition, University of Wisconsin, Parkside - Juried Show
• Ernest Hemingway Museum, Oak Park, IL - Juried Show
• Prairie State College Foundation Christopher Art Gallery - Regional Juried Show

• Limner Gallery, New York, NY, "Small Works"
• Chicago ART Open
• William A. Koehnline Gallery - Women's Day
• Blue Moon Studio and Art Gallery
• Dix Art Mix Gallery

• Award Winner - 2008 Rockford Midwestern Exhibition, Rockford, Illinois.
• Award Winner - Oh, Shoot! - Juried Photography Show 2008 - Bloomingdale Park District Museum
• Award Winner - Contemporary Symbolism - Christopher Art Gallery, Prairie State College Foundation, Chicago Heights, IL.
• Award Winner - Exhibition for the Arts 2007 - 12 12 Gallery, Richmond, Virginia.
• Purchase Award - 18th Annual McNeese National Works on Paper awarded by Annette Carlozzi, Senior Curator of American & Contemporary Art for the Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, Texas
• Award Winner- Images and Imagination 2005, Bloomingdale Park District Museum
• Award Winner - Women Photographers Competition 2004, DreamBox Foto Gallery 2004
• Award Winner - Hocus Focus 2004, Bloomingdale Park District Museum
• Award Winner - Photo 2003, Bloomingdale Park District Museum
• Award Winner - Twenty-first Annual Juried Art Show Friends of the Wilmette Public Library
• National Award Winner -National Strathmore Digital Art Contest Award Winner
• "Twelve Squared" Regional Award Winner, Christopher Art Gallery
• Award Winner - "The Written Word" Juried Exhibition, Bloomingdale Park District Museum
• Finalist Alice & Arthur Baer Art Competition
• Award of Excellence - "Herstory" Competition and Cover Art Competition, Manhattan Arts International
• Award of Merit - 2003, Manhattan Arts International 20th Anniversary competition
• Certificates of Recognition - 7th Annual Skyway Art Competition

• Juror - CCT Gallery, Visual Arts Committee, Northwestern University Settlement Association
• Illinois Arts Council's 2002-2004, 2004-2006, 2006-2008, 2008-2010 Arts-In-Education Artists Roster - juried
• Ragdale Foundation Residency
• Tall Grass Arts Association - Juried Gallery Artist
• Chicago Artists' Coalition
• Illinois Artisans Program - Juried Artist
• Juror - Bloomingdale Museum
• ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) Lightfastness Study Artist

• Mills College, Oakland, California
• Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois - Bachelors Degree
• University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin - Masters Degree