An image of Malphine Fogel praying the rosary with an angel hovering nearby captures her unwavering faith.
It was painted by Fogel family attorney Sasha Phillips as part of a multiperson mural spearheaded by local artist Tom Mosser with Marc Fogel’s face in the background.
The U.S. government recently declared Marc Fogel, an Oakmont teacher who has been in a Russian prison for more than three years for having medical marijuana, as wrongfully detained. It’s “a designation that aligns the weight of the entirety of the U.S. government behind Marc Fogel and enables U.S. officials to pursue negotiations for his release,” Phillips said.
The designation also allows Fogel and his family to access additional support and much-needed resources and is the final piece that prioritizes him in the eyes of the U.S. government, Phillips said.
The family has placed its hope in President-elect Donald Trump’s promise to Malphine Fogel to bring her son home, she added.
“Malphine met with politicians, including President-elect Trump at the Butler rally (in July), who promised her to bring Marc home,” Phillips said. “She organized a rally for Marc in front of the White House. She sued the U.S. government to make sure Marc is designated as wrongfully detained. She even said she’d travel to Russia to see her son. And she prays the rosary for Marc every day. She had to be front and center in Marc’s portrait.
“To fit the shapes on my square, I also added an angel on the other side. That angel is imaginary — Malphine is the real one.”
The image of Malphine Fogel is one of 50 individual paintings, photos or digital prints Mosser placed over a large portrait he painted of Marc Fogel for his first art event to help the family, the Make A Marc art project.
“I gave the people creating the squares freedom,” said Mosser, who divided the image into 50 squares and assigned each one. The mural is 48 x 96 inches and was printed by PGH Print Ship in Sharpsburg.
“Art is an incredibly powerful tool of advocacy,” Phillips said.
She would know — she has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fine art, a master’s degree in psychology from Harvard University and a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh.
“A picture speaks a thousand words, and sometimes it does so louder than any other forms of speech,” Phillips said. “As Marc’s family advocate, I will use any tools I can to bring Marc home.”
Phillips said her first thought when she received her spot in the center of the mural was about who was central to his plight for freedom.
“And, of course, it is Malphine, his almost-96-year-old mother,” said Phillips, who has been the family’s lawyer since shortly after he was arrested in Russia in August 2021.
The image of Malphine Fogel is the foundation for all of the images, Mosser said, because moms are the ones who hold families together. He also said the squares represent various pieces interlocking to bring a complete vision into view — a vision to bring Fogel home.
The Bring Our Families Home organization created a large mural in July 2022 in Washington, D.C., with faces of all wrongfully detained Americans — and Fogel’s face wasn’t included because he wasn’t officially designated. Four versions of the mural have been made after his arrest, Phillips said.
“That is one of the reasons we organized the Make A Marc event with Tom — creating our own art advocacy event for Marc since he was excluded from the one in D.C.,” Phillips said. “Marc was designated as wrongfully detained almost four months ago, but his face is still not on the Georgetown mural. Again, Tom made sure Marc was treated fairly and got his face on his own mural.”
Freedom is symbolic in the mural. Individual images include a bridge symbolizing Pittsburgh, phrases a close friend said he and Marc Fogel would always say, words from a New York Times article, music, one square that lists the years he has been imprisoned and the emotional image of his mother.
Gabriela Ortiz, an artist from Beechview, connected with this art because her husband, Joseph Sembrat, is a high school history teacher and they often travel abroad.
“What happened to Marc could happen to anyone,” Ortiz said. “When I looked at his image, I felt a sense of worry and uncertainty. He is trying to smile in the photo, but you can tell there is concern and that he isn’t sure what is going to happen. I don’t have any political clout, but I can help bring awareness.”
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Mosser’s wife, Mara, said being part of this artwork is a passion project.
“To see all the hard work that Tom has put into this project is remarkable,” she said. “The creativity behind the scenes, the emails, the late nights, early mornings and the full collaboration between all of the artists is a true gift for a true cause. We all want to bring Marc home.”
Marc Fogel’s younger sister Anne Fogel, who lives in Missoula, Mont., said her brother’s spirits are pretty low right now because he thought he would get out at Christmastime.
“Marc is in an unimaginable situation overseas,” Anne Fogel said, tearing up. “We are hopeful in the new administration. Not sure how fast it can happen, but we are anxious to get Marc home. I hope President Trump honors his word. The city of Pittsburgh has rallied for my brother. That is really touching to me. It makes us feel not so alone.”
The family also hopes to partner with Pittsburgh sports teams in some way to recognize all Americans who are in a similar situation.
“We have done some initial outreach and hope to have substantive discussions in the near future,” Phillips said. “Marc Fogel is a huge fan of his home teams, and we hope that they can mention him and other wrongfully detained Americans at the games.”
Given the new designation, Phillips’ husband, Edward Phillips, also an attorney, filed a notice of voluntary dismissal of a June lawsuit in federal court against the State Department and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, that alleged the government was treating Fogel differently than others who had been held in Russia and released, including WNBA Star Brittney Griner.
Edward Phillips said the lawsuit contained an equal protection claim that alleged Marc Fogel, and, by extension, his family, were treated differently than Griner and her family because Griner — who was convicted under the same articles of the Russian Criminal Code as Marc — was designated as wrongfully detained and subsequently returned home.
“The thrust of the lawsuit, however, was to have the court order the secretary of state to perform a review of Marc Fogel’s case under the Levinson Act,” Edward Phillips said.
The Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act of 2020 said, “The secretary of state shall review, as expeditiously as possible, the cases of United States nationals detained abroad to determine if there is credible information that they are being detained unlawfully or wrongfully.”
“Once Marc was designated as wrongfully detained, many of the claims in the lawsuit became moot, i.e., the dispute at issue was resolved,” Edward Phillips said. “Accordingly, the case was voluntarily withdrawn.”
For three years, the family had no idea what was going on, Edward Phillips said, which was like trying to figure out a puzzle with only one or two pieces.
“It would be nice to see Jan. 20 as the day Marc Fogel comes home,” said Edward Phillips, who referenced a prison swap on another inauguration day as a peace offering to the incoming administration.
Mosser is hopeful the mural can become part of a welcome home image at Pittsburgh International Airport.
Sasha Phillips said it is Malphine Fogel’s hope and dream to see her son.
“When she met with Trump, he promised to bring her son home,” Sasha Phillips said. “She’s been praying.”