Check Out Marilyn Borglum’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Marilyn Borglum

Hi Marilyn, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Like many young kids I spent a lot of time drawing and was influenced by my grandmother’s art book collection. Two of her uncles had been successful sculptors, and she herself had been a professional illustrator when she was a young woman. That element was a significant factor in how my family viewed the viability of a career in art. And although I first enrolled in college as a pre-vet student, I quickly changed my focus to painting, and return for my MFA in the late 1980’s to study both printmaking and painting.

In between my time as an undergraduate painter, and part-time during graduate school, I worked in visual merchandising for May D & F and Saks Fifth Avenue. The connections I made with the members of our team with May Company that worked on the store design for the “Home” Department (as opposed to Ready-to- Wear which was my group) led to an introduction to an interior design source in Denver, so I started doing custom paintings for interior designers after I finished grad school. I spent the next decade following the progression of my opportunities in that aspect of the art market, which is predominantly driven by interior design, both residential and commercial, sourced by regional art galleries. I also did work for the open edition print market which provides images to home stores and large retailers. I saw the versatility of the image making in both of those markets as a good opportunity to make money while developing my formal painting skills and raising my three boys.

By 2017, my kids were all out of high school and pursuing their university educations, or starting their own careers, so I moved into downtown Chicago and began the pursuit of my first love in art, figurative works.

This April will be the first major exhibition of my figurative works at “The San Francisco Art Fair 2025”. I’ll be showing a group of work the examines cultural influences.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I’ve definitely had a few challenges along the way. One of those was a four year period from 2000-2004, where I dealt with a health challenge. It did teach me, however, to take responsibility for my health, which was a valuable lesson that has guided me ever since. During that same period, I was faced with gaining the strength I needed to leave an abusive marriage, and I’m now a huge believer that financial freedom is tremendously important for any woman. And while there were many times when my children were young, during the housing market crash, and during the Covid-19 pandemic when producing enough income was a battle, throughout all of those difficulties came new skills, new tools to address them, and more appreciation for what those experiences taught me.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a contemporary painter, my pieces are brightly colored figurative works- often unflattering to the subject. My work is a satirical critique of our culture and how the mind is influenced by repetitive messaging, or manipulated by marketing and propaganda.

How do you think about happiness?
I’d say what makes my happy is a shorter and simpler answer as I get older. The less seriously I take my work, and myself, the more I play in the process of painting, and the more I allow myself to let go of control.

On a spiritual level, I love to watch the good guy and the truth win.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.marilynborglum.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marilyn.borglum/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marilyn.borglum
• Twitter: https://x.com/marilynborglumX
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@marilynborglum